The Doghouse
by Auroras-flame
Summary: COMPLETE Kagome's boyfriend dumps her and then her house gets broken into. She buys a dog from the pound for protection and companionship, but it doesn't take long for her to find out her pooch isn't normal. InuKag
1. One Bitch of a Day

Ah, the good fresh smell of a new fanfiction… My readers from Yamaibara are going to be pissed at me, but I won't give that up. Anywho, please enjoy my newest fic The Doghouse

Chapter 1

One Bitch of a Day

By Auroras-flame

She felt her feet blister and burn as she straggled across the asphalt street, clasping her broken sandals in her hand. She dropped her leather purse and hissed, exasperated, as she bent down to pick it up.

She could feel the sun frying her back through her dark blue silk blouse and black wool skirt. The sounding of an impatient driver's horn made her speed up and rush out of his way. Once on the sidewalk, she gave him a pointed glare before he could disappear around the corner. She sighed, knowing that the driver fully didn't care.

Kagome resumed walking home.

Today was one of the worst days she had experienced. She woke up late and just barely made it to work on time, clocking in at a scary 8:01 (technically not _late_), with her hair out of order, her makeup nonexistent, and barefoot with her high heels in her bag. Not exactly appropriate work attire, especially for the secretary of a corporate Tokyo bigwig.

Kagome always considered herself lucky when it came to her life. She was a secretary, but she was paid rather well. Further more, her boss had never hit on her, not even once; and the one time she was harassed at work her boss fired the man on the spot. She had a small, but beautiful house; (She actually considered this the greatest blessing since all of her friends lived in apartment buildings or with their parents still) and she had a loving boyfriend that had been with her since high school, and was actually living with her currently.

Her boyfriend, Hojou, wasn't the most exciting boyfriend. In fact, she'd always thought of him as rather dull, unsurprising, and boring. Even if he did something _he_ thought was spontaneous, such as getting her flowers or such, he always called her exactly two days before he got them and asked her what flowers were in season. He actually_ planned,_ _days previous_ when he would spontaneously buy her flowers.

Well, in his defence, Hojou was hands down the most kind and loyal man she had ever seen. All of her girlfriends had been through at least three boyfriends in the span that she and Hojou had been together. They often complained to her that Hojou was too perfect and joked about stealing him from her. Kagome found it odd that they were never deterred by the fact that the most scandalous thing she and Hojou had done was once buy the "Fire" hot sauce instead of the "Mild"; and even then, Hojou bought the mild the next week because he didn't like the change. When she told them as much, they assumed it was a sick metaphor and they laughed it off.

It wasn't.

Kagome stubbed her toe on a slab of lifted sidewalk and cursed, being reminded of how awful today had been. Aside from coming into work late, she learned that her relatively wonderful boss was being transferred to Hokkaido and was being replaced by the VP of the company's son. This news strayed to the "bad" side because Kagome didn't know anything about this VP Jr. As far as she knew, this guy went through secretaries like toilet paper, never satisfied until he found one with the cutest ass. If that was the case she'd either be fired within the week or quitting after sexual harassment.

After learning that, she found out that her car was being towed because she was so rushed that morning that they didn't see the signs saying that the street she was parked on was going to be repaved this morning. Fortunately, it was Hojou's car that she brought to work today, not hers, but still, it all rather sucked.

What was even worse was the fact that Hojou was now in Okinawa visiting his elderly grandmother. He had been gone for two weeks now and was coming back tonight, meaning: A) She needed to get Hojou's car out of the DMV and quick, and B) She had no one to pick her up and drive her home.

So here she was: walking home. Walking six miles in her emergency flip-flops. Or rather, she would be walking in her emergency flip-flops if they hadn't snapped after only half a mile. So now she was walking the remaining five and half miles by foot. Clearly emergency flip-flops weren't enough, she needed back-up emergency flip-flops in case her original emergency flip-flops crapped out like this!

Kagome let out an audible groan. She couldn't exactly wear her high heels, she was better of barefoot. Even if they were flaming with pain right now.

Kagome kept her eyes on the ground, careful not to step on any pointy objects or stub her toes on anything else when she heard a loud, grumbling growl. She stopped and looked across the street, scanning for the maker of the sound.

The first thing she spotted was a hideously orange coloured van with contrasting baby blue letters reading "Animal Control Centre" written on its side. A few metres away there was a horrifically stereotypical dogcatcher in a twin jumpsuit. He was plump and short, and not even his dreadful carroty hat could hide his balding scalp.

The man took a slow, wary step forward towards a feral looking Kishu Inu. The dog didn't step back as the Dog catcher got closer, instead its hair bristled and made the loudest most feral noise Kagome had ever heard a dog of that type make.

The Dog Catcher murmured, "Nice doggie, doggie," as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out something Kagome couldn't recognize immediately. The Catcher pointed it at the Kishu, and the big white dog let out another snarl and crouched lower to the ground, either in its attempt to be submissive or pounce.

Kagome squinted her eyes and could not identify for the life of her what the object was until the projectile was shot out of it. Kagome gasped, and ran across the street, not even checking if cars were coming and ran to the dog as it collapsed on the sidewalk.

The Catcher ran up to her and pulled her away from the motionless pooch, warning, "Stay away Miss! This dog's rabid, he is!"

Kagome turned on him, swiftly and angrily, "You just _shot_ a dog! In the middle of Tokyo!"

The Catcher loosened his grip, looking guilty and saying defensively, "It was only a tranquilizer, Miss. It's not dead…" Kagome tore herself away from the Catcher and ran to the dog, being halted suddenly by a low grumble.

Kagome stared down in disbelief as the dog glared at her through half-lidded amber eyes. He seemed to use all of his strength with just lifting his upper lip so he could bare his teeth at her.

"It's still awake?!" the Catcher cried in disbelief, "Blimey, I had enough tranquilizer to knock out two dogs in that shot!"

Kagome twisted her head, "Wouldn't that nearly _kill_ the poor thing?"

The Catcher got defensive again, "Miss, I've been tracking this dog for weeks now, and I've shot it at least five times and he never got put out…"

Kagome shook her head and came closer to the dog. The creature was just trying to keep its eyes open. She crouched down and tried to pet its snout, but all she got was an unexpected snap at her hand. She drew it away from danger fast enough, but the Catcher just chuckled cockily, "No use trying to show it kindness, Miss, a rabid dog can't tell the difference between friend and foe. Sooner bite your hand off than lick it."

Kagome stared a little more at the fainting animal. He was pure white, as most kishus usually are, but he was covered with enough dirt and grime, he might as well have been auburn. He was a big, noble thing. Even at the verge of passing out his ears were erect and his eyes were still open. His paws were humongous, and his tail was long and bushy. It really was a pity he was so dirty…

"Move away, Miss, as soon as he's off, I'm carting him to the pound," the Catcher announced proudly, and then he said, mostly to himself, "Sixteen days of searching and sixteen days of disappointment, today I finally bring him in this rabid thing."

Kagome swivelled her head, "He's not rabid…"

The Catcher took offence, "Sure he is! The first reason I went out looking for him is because he attacked a man. Since then people've been seein' him attack voles and rats, so he could easily have rabies from biting one of them…"

"But look: he isn't foaming…" Kagome pointed out.

"Well…" the Catcher looked unsure, "Not all dogs foam when they have rabies, you know… he might be past that stage…"

"Yes, and didn't you say that you were chasing him for two weeks? Dogs with rabies barely last more than a week after their hind legs get paralyzed…" she stated, restraining herself from pointing out that this man must have no social life whatsoever if he spent two weeks of his life actually _chasing after a dog_.

The Catcher blushed and stammered, 'Well… that's true, but maybe…"

"…Maybe this dog just doesn't like humans and your man who filed a report was somehow harassing the dog…" Kagome finished for him.

The Catcher flushed crimson and pouted. Finally he huffed in a childish way, "Even then, he still needs to come with me! If he was an ill tempered stray, I still have every right to tranquilize him and take him to the pound, I do!" The Catcher made his way past Kagome and picked up the finally unconscious dog, "And so help me if I don't have him asleep by the day after tomorrow!"

Kagome let out a horrified gasp, shocked that anything like that could come out of the mouth of a human being, "You mean kill him!"

The Catcher let out a little sneer, "No, no. We don't call it that anymore. Sounds too nasty. Euphemisms make people feel better."

It didn't make Kagome feel better. She protested walking out in front of him, "Oh no you won't. If he's all that much trouble I'd rather take him!"

The Catcher didn't look impressed. He walked around her and put him (more like shoved him) into a large kennel. He shut and locked the door saying mockingly, "Sorry, Miss. As an Animal Control Officer I can't release any dog to specific individuals unless they're the owners of the dog," he turned around to Kagome and motioned to the Kishu with his thumb, "This your dog?"

Kagome deflated, "No."

"Then I can't release him to you. Sorry Miss. If you want him _that_ badly, you have to go pick him up at the Animal Control Centre." The Catcher climbed into his van and started it up.

Kagome, angry at herself and the man gave a short, immature burst, "Maybe I will!!"

He stuck his head out of the window and said with a haughty smile, "Cheerio, Miss. Do get yourself some shoes," before driving off. Kagome stamped her foot. Just super, another thing to add to her list of "crappy things that happened today".

Unable to do much else, she let out a frustrated squeal and continued on her trek home.

At least Hojou would be coming home later tonight. He might cheer her up.

-,-

Kagome made a noise that sounded something like a sigh of relief and a squeak. Her house was in seeing distance. Her feet were bright red and she suspected her face was too. In a desperate attempt to get home fast, she'd occasionally jog the several miles, not thinking it would actually make her more tired and slow her down even more.

She had been walking for over three hours. Her throat was begging for water and her hot, sticky body was pleading to be let into a bath. Her feet were filthy and burgundy, and that was just the tops of them! Sweat had practically drenched her everywhere imaginable, even places she wouldn't even speak of, giving her a baby rash during her epic journey. She didn't even want to know how her face and hair looked… or how she _smelled_. Her under-foot had blisters. She needn't look to know where they were. She suspected one of the blisters might have popped on the way, too.

Kagome all but collapsed onto her doorstep, reaching for her keys in her purse. She drew them out fuddled around a bit until she finally opened the door and let herself in.

The air in the house was no different than the air outside, but she still took a deep, big breath of it, relished it, and then let it out slowly. As soon as she shut the door she began tearing her own clothes off, her sweat giving her an immediate cooling effect. She hurried across the room towards the bathroom and started on the water for the bath and turned on the shower to rinse herself off first.

It felt so good to feel clean she didn't notice until she was finished rinsing herself off and shampooing her hair that she had accidentally left her watch on. She pried it off her wrist, ready to throw it out of the bathroom until she saw the time. It was six o' clock. Not only was she not going to the DMV to pick up Hojou's car before he got home, but she needed to pick him up _right now_. His plane supposedly got in ten minutes ago.

She let out the most gut wrenching groan, and turned off the bath water. The short shower was all she had time for. She couldn't even blow dry her hair… Kagome grudgingly grabbed one of her towels and wrapped it around her hair; then she took another and wrapped it around her body. She rushed upstairs to her and Hojou's room and picked out some fresh clothes to put on.

Then, only putting some mineral veil over her face, she rushed outside to her car, hairbrush in hand, trying to get out the majority of the knots and excess water.

She turned on her car, infinitely happy to be in a vehicle, and left home for the airport. No more than two blocks away from her house her cell went off in her purse. She bit the inside of her cheek and dug around for it. She finally pulled it out and checked it. Hojou's name with a little heart (an addition by her friends) was aglow on the pink cell phone screen and Kagome picked it up, immediately singing a string of apologies, "I'm sorry, I'm coming right now. You wouldn't believe how bad today has been for me. I'm coming right now."

"Kagome," Hojou said from the other line, "Let's go out to eat tonight."

Kagome was stunned to silence. Was that actually some unexpected spontaneity? Apparently worried by her quietness, Hojou called through again, "Kagome? Are you still there?"

Kagome snapped back into reality, "Yeah, I'm here. Where do you want to go?"

"I made reservations at that restaurant by the bay you really like…"

"Tokyo BanquetSea?" Kagome cried. Not only was it her favourite place, but it was the place where Kagome and Hojou actually had their first, real date. Why on Earth did Hojou want to go there right after being at his grandmother-?

Oooohhhhh….

"That's alright, isn't it? I really wanted to tell you something…" Hojou sounded meek over the phone.

Kagome blushed and replied, "Yeah, that'll be great- just…" she glanced at her current casual attire, "Let's go home and change first, 'kay? I really look like a mess right now…"

"You never look like a mess, Kagome!" Hojou exclaimed as if the idea was preposterous.

Kagome smiled, "Thank you Hojou. See you in a minute, okay?"

"Yeah, bye bye."

"Bye." She hung up the phone and let out a squeal of excitement. She couldn't believe it; Hojou was going to propose to her! It would only make sense. They were boyfriend and girlfriend for six years now and had been friends for even longer. It was natural that this would be the next step. She never would have guessed Hojou would go all the way to his grandmother's house to get the family ring. That _had_ to be it. Kagome had spoken to the old bird over the telephone and she knew she wasn't kicking it anytime soon and she had heard Hojou and his mother go on about the beauty of the family engagement ring they had since the 20s.

Kagome came to a red light and stopped. She took this opportunity to look up at the ceiling of her car and say, "Thank you." She got it now, today was really crappy to even out how good tonight was going to be.

Kagome couldn't stop grinning all the way to the airport.

-,-

Kagome was all smiles as Hojou drover her to Tokyo BanquetSea. She was dressed in a flattering, light blue dress to bring out her eyes. She put her hair up and fastened it to the back of her head with a beautiful comb her mother got her from France.

Hojou wasn't too dressed up, but she really couldn't harp on him because she felt it wasn't within her right to harp on someone whose car she got towed.

She had explained that to him upon arriving home when he asked where is car was. She didn't expect him to get angry (she couldn't even really picture it), but he seemed like he was totally unperturbed by it. That concerned Kagome, but she didn't dwell on it. In fact, she downright dismissed it and continued with her prettying up.

Hojou got into the parking lot of Tokyo BanquetSea and even without being asked to, went around the car to open the door for Kagome, bless him. Kagome couldn't stop grinning as he escorted her into the restaurant entrance.

The matridee greeted the couple asking, "Good evening. Have you a reservation?"

"Uh- Yes. Hojou, for two, eight o' clock," Hojou told him.

"This way, sir, madam," the matridee said as he led them over to a table on the other side of the restaurant, right beside the window overlooking the ocean.

Kagome cooed and giggled. Their table had candle light and the white tablecloth didn't clash with her dress. She sat down and gaped at the ocean which shimmered with the silver moonlight.

This was just too perfect.

The matridee left two menus in front of them, gave a short bow, and left.

Kagome then focused on Hojou, gazing into his eyes, waiting expectantly. He seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her, staring at the menu placed before him with the most intent stare.

He spared a glance up at her, but then flushed and looked back down at his menu. Kagome cracked another smile. He was shy, how cute. Well, it wouldn't be right if he proposed anytime before dessert, so perhaps she should make some small talk with him until then.

She opened her mouth to speak but Hojou said before she could get a word in, "So, you said that you had a bad day? Was it only my car?"

Kagome shut her mouth. She really didn't want to talk about this on the night she was being proposed to… but since he mentioned it….

Kagome took her napkin from the table and placed it in her lap, "Well! For starters, I woke up late this morning. I made it into work on time, but just barely and I was just a mess."

Hojou frowned, "I'm sorry…" he apologized as if it were his fault.

Kagome shook her head, "Don't feel sorry, that was the good part of my day," she continued, "When I got to work I discovered that my boss, Totosai-san, he's leaving this weekend to work in Hokkaido and I'm going to be secretary to the VP's son."

Hojou mumbled, "Well, that might not be bad…"

Kagome bobbed her head, "I know, but I'm just worried. Secretaries have bad reputations and I've heard of bosses that act on that. I just felt safe with Totosai-san, you know. I felt like I could trust him to keep me out of that situation."

For a reason that Kagome just overlooked, Hojou flinched. She went on, "Just after that, I overheard a co-worker complain that she couldn't park on the street she normally does because they were repaving it this morning. Freaking out, I rush down there and all that's left of your car is a note on the sidewalk with a ticket." Kagome winced, "I'm so sorry about that…"

Hojou waved his hands, "Oh, it's alright, I'm not mad."

Kagome nodded and went on, "So, because no one is here to drive me home, I didn't have a car or even any bus or tube money, I end up walking home…"

Hojou's eyes were wide, "You _walked_ home…? From _your work_…?"

Kagome sighed, confirming, happy to hear sympathy from someone, "Yes, all six miles… Bare-footed, because my sandals broke!" she folded her arms. A sudden memory broke through, "Oh, and on the way, I spotted this ridiculous dog catcher… he actually shot a dog with a tranquilizer gun _right in front of me_! I felt so bad for thing, I ran over to help it and the awful man said he was taking it off to the pound and killing it."

Hojou seemed less sympathetic, but still said to appease her, "That's too bad. Well, you know me, I can't be around dogs. They make me sneeze…"

Kagome had forgotten that Hojou was allergic… Oh well, there goes the idea of getting the poor dog. Then again, he probably wouldn't even like her anyways…

The waiter finally came up to their table, "Anything I could start you off with? Sir?"

Hojou just glanced down at the list and said, "Bourbon."

Kagome gave him a strange, strained look. Bourbon wasn't exactly what she would call romantic alcohol… she was thinking something along the lines of DeRose Vineyards Viognier or something.

"And you," said the waiter, facing Kagome, "Madam?"

"Water… I suppose," Kagome said. Well, one of them needed to keep sober for the ride home…

"Very well, I will be back shortly with your drinks," the waiter left and Kagome stared at Hojou suspiciously, as he would glance at her, and then glance away quickly, and then glance at her again like some sort of nervous rabbit.

Finally, he locked gazes with her, "Kagome."

Kagome felt her heart speed up, "Yes?"

"There's been… something… I wanted to wait until later but I can't keep it in any longer…" he sounded desperate.

Kagome felt her lips turn up as she pressured him on, "Yes?"

"Kagome, we have been together for a long time, a long time," he repeated, "I can't recall a single time we have fought, we get along much more famously than other couples I've seen, ever!" At this point, he took both of her hands into his and began rubbing them with his thumbs. Oh dear god, this was it…

"And that being said, I now need to say this…"

Kagome could feel her hands tighten. Here it was, Kagome Higurashi…

"… We need to break up, Kagome."

… Fian….. what?

Kagome's mouth dropped. Surely she misheard. She blinked a couple of time and asked in her sweetest voice, "I'm sorry, what did you say Hojou?"

"We need to break up, Kagome…" Hojou was actually sweating now, "…Because I cheated on you with Eri!"

Kagome genuinely could not understand. It was like he was speaking another language. Did he say he _cheated_ on her? With one of her best friends??? It actually didn't add up. The room was spinning around her. It was as if she entered the Twilight Zone!!!!

She ripped her hands out of Hojou's and put one of them on her head, still trying to absorb the situation. Hojou, stupidly, went into detail about it, "I didn't mean for it to happen… It all just spontaneously occurred-!" Kagome had to restrain herself from laughing.

"We met by coincidence in Okinawa, and my grandmother thought she was you…" he went on, "We went along with it, and things sort of… spun out of control…."

It all began to sink in and all too fast. Kagome rose to her feet and silenced any words Hojou was about to say with her hand in front of his face. She said, lowly and dangerously, "No. I don't want to hear it." A single, delicate tear of fury ran down her face. Upon seeing it, Hojou gave her a shattered look. Well good! Be upset! Feel guilty!! This was too much!!

She managed to get out before anymore pesky, girly, hurt emotions reached her, "You take anything you want, but I'm keeping the house, Hojou."

Hojou couldn't really protest even if he wanted to because Kagome was already speaking again, "I'm driving home alone now. _YOU_ can walk six miles home for all I care." She picked up her purse and said finally, "It's a good thing the majority of your things are packed because you'll be carting them all out when you get home."

She stormed out of the restaurant and headed straight for the car. She climbed into the driver's seat and started it up. Over the engine's whirling she let out a sob. Funny how all of the hope one can build up can be shattered so easily…

-,-

Okay, so the emoticon sort of destroyed the effect, but whatever. I hope you liked the first chapter.


	2. At the Pound

Thank you for your reviews! To be honest, I wasn't really expecting any, so they meant a lot to me. Because of it, I worked really hard to produce this chapter, I hope you like it!

Chapter 2

At the Pound

By Auroras-flame

Kagome drove the highway home from the Tokyo BanquetSea. She felt hot tears running down her cheeks and then drying in place and crusting with runny mascara. Her legs were starting to feel sore from her hike from work and the baby powder she rolled onto her inner thighs was now wearing off and leaving her skin irritated. Her nose was running too, but she couldn't wipe it because she forgot to restock the tissues in her car. It was almost like God had intended her to be the biggest mess she could be, just for today. The eleventh freaking commandment: "And on the day June 30, 2007, do unto Kagome as you would do unto a fly, and I shall make her resemble Britney Spears, _post_ rehab!"

Kagome wiped the fresh tears she was shedding away. She really oughtn't to be so teary about this; especially since she herself had considered more than a few times to dump Hojou simply on the account that he was boring.

Perhaps she wouldn't have been so angry and sad if it hadn't been such a total surprise. She never, not in a thousand years, suspected Hojou to pull something like this. It was one of the reasons why she kept with him for so long: she thought she could depend on him not to hurt her. She was safe with him. Clearly she was deluded.

That was another thing she was so angry and upset about. Was this really out of the blue, or was she just naïve? Hojou never did anything that wasn't obvious to the whole world before hand. There _must_ have been signs! Clearly Eri saw them, because she just snapped up Hojou in a matter of weeks. Had Yuka and Ayumi seen them too? Was Kagome the only one who was blind to her boyfriend's feelings?

She had always thought Eri was joking when she would say that she'd steal Hojou from her one day. Yet again, clearly, she was deluded.

Kagome made her way home, and sobbing just one last time she treaded onto her front step and reached into her purse for her key. She pulled it out, stuck it in the lock and turned. She was surprised not to hear the familiar clicking of it being unlocked. The door was already open!

Kagome mumbled something mean about Hojou leaving it unlocked, knowing she was only angry about it because she was already upset at him, and opened the door. The mess that greeted her left her shocked beyond all belief. Her hand dropped away from the doorknob, leaving her keys dangling there as she gawked at her living room.

Couches had been overturned; throw pillows were in every corner along with DVDs, CDs, and all other small items that were left around the living room. The telly had been tipped over, and the screen had exploded into glass shards that now lay strewn dangerously across the floor. The multitudes of players that they had were moved as well, but they still were in good shape.

Fear crept up Kagome's spine and she carefully made her way to the kitchen, making sure she neither stepped on something breakable nor sharp, and that she moved as quietly as possible.

She winced upon seeing the state of the kitchen, too. Cupboards were wide open and all their contents scattered. She inched past her dining table and noticed with disgust how a carton of milk had been left out and obviously drank straight from.

Kagome reached her knife rack and took off the butcher and the cleaver. Having done that, she made her way back to the living room and headed for the stairs. There was nothing but messy chaos everywhere. Even just going past the broom closet in the upstairs hallway was a chore. She couldn't have been gone for more than thirty minutes; how had all this damage occured?

She made it to her and Hojou's- well, now just her room and found it in an equal state as the rest of the house. Fortunately, the only thing she and Hojou really kept in the bedroom was their clothes, so Kagome could walk a little easier, knowing not to expect anything pointed or fragile.

She waddled awkwardly over to the phone, placed down the butcher knife and dialled "1-1-0". Before the telephone even could ring there was the voice of a woman on the other line.

"Hello, this is 1-1-0 emergency hotline, what is your problem?"

Kagome remembered all of the steps she had learned from her parents and primary school and stated clearly, "My name is Kagome Higurashi. I live on 131-9Adako Tokyo, and my house has been broken into, possibly robbed."

"I'll send some police officers to your house immediately and inform a clean up squad," she stated professionally, "Are you alone, Miss?"

"I am."

"Have you seen the perpetrators, Miss?"

"No, I have not," Kagome said, but then mentioned, "But I have a butcher and cleaver for protection, just in case."

The operator didn't sound very awed by her genius and said, "Do you live alone, Miss?"

"Oh, no, I live with my-" Kagome stopped herself mid-sentence, realizing that she actually didn't live with her boyfriend anymore. She corrected herself, "I used to live with my boyfriend. I live alone now."

There was a hint of pity to her voice, "I see." That disappeared quickly with the sound of professionalism as she said, "I will inform the officers. I suggest you wait outside for them to come. They will be there rather shortly."

Kagome hung up the phone and began walking back outside. She couldn't help herself from noticing that this was hands down the most horrible day of her life. She thought it was bad _before_ Hojou came back. Oh no, that was goddamn peachy keen. That was a trip to Disneyland and the candy store. _THIS_ sucked. _THIS_ was a bad day.

By the time she made it outside she could already hear sirens. She didn't even bother sitting down as red and blue flashing lights approached her house and parked right in front of her.

Out of the police car came a beautiful young lady and young man stepped out of the car. Kagome was surprised at how young they were, but spoke to them politely none the less, "Hello, I'm the one who called…"

The young woman nodded her head seriously and stated, "Good evening. I am Detective Nomura, Sango and this is my partner, Naruse, Miroku."

Miroku bowed his head cheerfully, "How do you do?"

Poorly, actually…

Sango continued, "We understand that you have a case of breaking and entering."

Kagome straitened out her blue dress, "Yes, come in." She escorted the pair over to her house and let them into her living room. Miroku whistled at the mess, "Wow, I've never seen a house looking this bad… or with this much stuff!"

Kagome gave him a puzzled look; she generally thought that she and Hojou kept their house inventory to a minimum. She had been told by her friends that her house was actually sort of barren and _needed_ more stuff.

Sango explained, "He means that we rarely see a breaking and entering case where this much stuff was left after the robber went through the house. And he's right, the DVD player, TV, stereo. If I were a thief, those would be the first to in my truck."

"Ms. Higurashi, do you have any enemies?" inquired Miroku, crouching down by a piece of shattered telly glass and picking it up for inspection.

Kagome withheld a snort, hearing that question asked one time too often in crime dramas, "No. I can honestly say I don't."

"You told the operator that you lived until recently with your boyfriend, could he have done this?" Sango asked, with condolences present in her tone.

"Not unless he has super speed," Kagome folded her arms, being angered by just the memory of Hojou "I just came home from having dinner with him when he dumped me and told me he was cheating on me with my best friend," she informed them, attitude unforgiving.

Both of the officers winced in unison. But Miroku suddenly tried to bring up the mood by asking, "I _was_ wondering why you were wearing a dress. I just figured you had dressed up for the occasion of meeting a dashing, police officer."

Sango whipped him over the head and barked, "Belt up, Miroku! I'm sorry," she apologized to Kagome, and then dared to ask, "Does _he_ have any enemies, then, Miss?"

Kagome sighed and shook her head, "Until tonight, I thought he was a saint."

Sango gritted her teeth, "Have you noticed _anything_ missing? Even something that you thought was without value?"

Kagome looked up in thought, "It's possible something is missing, but I didn't notice anything immediately. From what I can tell at first glance was the only thing the thief stole was a swig of my milk." She motioned towards the kitchen while mentioning this.

Miroku walked over to the kitchen and sniffed the milk and wrinkled his nose, "Bleh. You're going to want to throw this out…"

Before Kagome could say "duh" Sango mentioned, "It seems that if the reason wasn't to destroy, it must be to look for something. Have you been in the news lately or recently bought something at an auction or something like that?"

Kagome shook her head, "No. You would be surprised how dull by life has been until this night."

Miroku tutted as he gave a final glance around the room, "You know what you need, Miss? You need a dog!"

"Miroku!" Sango hissed, "That's a stupid idea."

Kagome suddenly remembered the Kishu she saw earlier today.

"No it's not; it's a fact that dogs can be psychological deterrents for criminals. If some dog is barking or growling at you, you know to run away. Not to mention their practically like little home security devices. If strangers come within even a twenty foot radius of the house they go off barking."

"Yeah, they'll bark at every jogger and mailman that comes close," Sango added in testily, "Not to mention, even though they might discourage normal robbers, do you think they would put off these kind?"

Miroku sighed and said, "If you ask me, this just looks like the work of some stupid kids that got drunk and wanted to cause some destruction on some poor shmuk's house," he gave Kagome an apologetic look, "Sorry."

"None taken." Kagome said, actually really liking the idea. She had the money to pay for a dog, and now that Hojou was moving out, she would like the company… and wasn't Eri allergic to dogs too?

"What- what has happened?!"

Kagome's eyebrows rose as she saw Hojou with Eri (who must have given him a ride) at the door, gaping at the mess. Speak of the devil…

Hojou looked up at Kagome, confused, "Kagome…?"

Oh, _come on_. She rolled her eyes, "Yes Hojou, it was me. I got home and turned into the Incredible Hulk and destroyed the house."

Hojou stared in disbelief, looking as if he were trying to guess whether she was joking or not.

"You must be Hojou," said Sango, somewhat acidly, "Your house has been broken into."

"If you want to help, take the half of the things that are yours," Kagome said, placing her hands on her hips, "I'll clean up my half. By the way, I'm getting the dog," Kagome told Miroku sweetly.

Miroku blinked in surprise, amazed that someone took his idea and said simply, "Really?"

More sirens sounded and cars began to pull up to the house and Sango mentioned, "Oh, that must be the clean-up team… they will clean up anything broken beyond repair such as the TV and broken vases."

"Thank you," Kagome said gratefully.

Sango let out a small smile and nodded, "It's our job, Miss."

-,-

Kagome strolled up to the big grey building labelled "Animal Control Centre" and couldn't help giving a relieved sigh that it wasn't carrot orange like their vans were. She practically skipped through the doors and froze when she saw who was at the desk: Mr. Dog Catcher himself.

Now he had a name tag, though. Apparently, his name was Mukotsu.

Mukotsu looked up from a magazine he was reading and recognized Kagome immediately. He let out a hearty chuckle, "Ah, I didn't think you'd actually come." He leaned over the counter to check on something, he laughed and casually mentioned, "Wearing shoes today, I see."

Kagome was so NOT in the mood, "Oh, hardy-har-har, where's the dog?"

Mukotsu suddenly became rather absorbed with the light in the ceiling as he answered the question blandly with a, "Well…"

For one sinking moment Kagome was afraid she was too late. Had he already put him down? Her fear had not turned to anger just yet as Mukotsu mentioned, "I haven't put him to sleep _yet_."

Kagome's eyes began to shine with determination as he asked, "Wanna see him?" She nodded and with that he led her around behind the counter and through a back door. Kagome couldn't stop herself from wincing when entering the scene. It was like walking into the Lady and the Tramp movie… the place was practically a prison. As they walked through the hall of dogs, some would occasionally whine at Kagome or bark at her. She felt bad for them, but she really was only here for the Kishu…

He led her to the very last kennel (more like cell) and motioned for her to come see. Kagome wandered over and noticed immediately that this cage was unlike the rest. Most of the kennels had small wires that seemed to discourage the dogs from even trying to escape. This kennel actually had iron bars, crosshatching metal fencing, and what looked like an electrical fencing unit in front of his kennel.

Kagome stared at Shotarou in disbelief, "Is that _really_ necessary?"

He didn't even smile, "Yes."

Out of the shadows, the Kishu meandered out. Kagome felt a pang of outrage as she saw that he had been muzzled, leashed, and choke collared. She hissed at Mukotsu, "This is _inhumane_."

He threw up his hands defensively, "Look, lady. If you had only _been_ here. I'm showing you this so you won't buy him. This is the only way I can keep him in one place with out tranquilizing him. What do you think he's going to do when the only thing that's going to restrain him is a little girl playing humanitarian?"

Kagome resented that and she turned her focus back onto the Kishu. He stared at her defiantly with golden eyes, almost as if he knew she had come to purchase him. He let out a throaty growl which was answered back by Mukotsu, "Aww, stop your yapping! She's the nicest face _you'll_ ever see!"

Kagome continued to stare at the beautiful creature. He had turned his snarling onto Mukotsu, but Kagome still couldn't stop staring at his bright yellow eyes. All of a sudden she said, "Yup, I need him. Bring him on out."

Mukotsu gave her a look like he thought she was crazy. The Kishu returned her answer with a muffled bark of hate. Mukotsu asked straight out, "You want him? Seriously?"

Yup," she said dreamily, still staring straight into the dog's eyes, "I've fallen in love."

Mukotsu looked even more confused (and slightly disgusted) and now even the dog stopped growling to give her a bemused look. "Uhhh…" Mukotsu mumbled, "That's sort of a weird thing to say, Miss."

"Whatever, will you please just bring him out of there?" Kagome pleaded.

Mukotsu scratched the back of his head, "Well, you should probably fill out the required papers first…"

Kagome sighed, "Right."

-,-

After filling out the paperwork, Kagome and Mukotsu went back into the dog holding area and approached the Kishu. First Mukotsu turned off the electric fence, and then he opened up each fence and door with his ring of keys. The Kishu was grumbling spitefully the whole time, but keeping very still.

Kagome crouched down and scolded him, "I can see what you're thinking. Don't just run off the second the leash is detached from the wall."

The dog bristled and bore its teeth at her through the muzzle. She wasn't too impressed and she assured him, "I'm not that terrible, you know. It isn't like I'm going to put you to work or keep you inside the house all day like some of those horrible owners with fat dogs do," she sort of spat the last words, "Can you be nice to me at least until we get to the house? I mean, the deal can't be all that bad… You're being fed and kept out of the rain…"

"Uhh, Miss, I hate to break this to you, but, the dog doesn't understand you," Mukotsu mocked her.

She glared at him and returned to the dog, "I think he understands more than you think."

The dog stopped growling. Kagome smiled slightly; perhaps this would be easier than she imagined it would be…

"I'm releasing the leash!" Mukotsu announced, pushing a button on the counsel next to his kennel. A clicking sound resounded and the Kishu rushed out of his pen and straight towards the door, earning many cheering barks by the other dogs, knocking over Kagome on his way, and dragging his choke collar behind him.

The Kishu tried to push through the door with his head and only managed to bonk himself rather hard. He tried to nut it again, just hurting himself even more. He growled and turned furiously towards Mukotsu and Kagome. Mukotsu was laughing hard. He dangled his keys tauntingly in front of the Kishu teasing, "If you want out you'll need _these_… and opposable thumbs!" He chortled even louder, but that didn't last long…

The Kishu Inu charged back down the hallway. Kagome crouched, waiting for the impact of an angry dog, but instead, felt a wind pass over her head and the Kishu tackled Mukotsu to the ground, pounding mercilessly away with his big club-like paws.

"Get him off of me! Get him off of me!" Mukotsu screamed, flailing about like a fish out of water.

Kagome just sat there and watched, totally uncertain of what to do. Finally, not even thinking straight, she threw her arms around the dog and implored, "Stop it, please!"

To her surprise, the dog stopped clawing Mukotsu. It just sort of stood there, as if it were dumbstruck. Kagome was panting and Mukotsu scampered away from the dog and stared in horror at Kagome's mystical pooch-pacifying-power.

Kagome was too afraid to move, too afraid that the dog would attack again if she let go. Feeling gauche and unsure she mumbled, "Um… thank you…?"

Her words seemed to snap the dog out of his own trance because as soon as she spoke he became agitated again. He shook her off like he would shake off water and looked up at her, looking almost as if he were trying to figure something out.

"That thing is a MONSTER!!!" Mukotsu screeched from the background.

The Kishu turned his attention back onto Mukotsu and snarled again, causing the man to whimper. Kagome spoke in her dog's defence, "Well, you shouldn't really have been teasing him then, though, should you?"

Both Mukotsu and the Kishu stared at her, not making a noise. Kagome bent down and frowned at the Kishu's muzzle, "Now we really should get that off of you, shouldn't we?" she said as she reached for the fasteners.

"Are you out of your blooming mind, Lady?! He just tried to kill me! And you're going to take his MUZZLE off?" Mukotsu looked both bewildered and appalled.

Kagome sniffed, "And his choke collar." She turned back to the Kishu, "You wouldn't want to put _that_ in your mouth anyway, would you?" Perhaps Kagome's mind was playing tricks on her, but she thought the dog actually looked like he was thinking it over, and then shuddering.

Kagome delicately undid the fasteners and slid the muzzle off of her Kishu. He did not move, nor did he make any sudden movements. She smiled, "See, that's better, isn't it? Now let's take off the choke collar…" She glanced only briefly behind the Kishu to see Mukotsu literally trembling in terror and awe. She returned to the Kishu, and loosened the choke collar so he could slip his head out. The dog looked grateful. Kagome was glad. She stood up and suggested merrily, "Shall we go?"

She began to walk to the door and the Kishu cautiously followed behind her. She made it to the door and tried to open it, failing much like the Kishu did. She turned her attentions onto Mukotsu and held out her hand, "The keys?"

"I- I-" he stuttered, "I could sue you, you know. The dog was officially in your possession when it at- attacked me…" he watching the dog like a frightened squirrel as he spoke.

Kagome didn't feel threatened, "A dog catcher that admits he can't handle one loving, darling doggie? How brave, I know I could never admit that to the judge…" she mocked, making him flush.

Suddenly, like a flicker of a flame, the Kishu was charging at Mukotsu again. Kagome called, "Wait! Don't!" not sure if she could defend him from this attack. Mukotsu screamed like a little girl and got into a defensive position. But a just metre away from him, the Kishu screeched to a halt, gave what looked to be like a wolfish grin as he snatched the keys out of Mukotsu's trembling hands with his mouth, and pranced his way on over to Kagome.

Kagome stared down at her new pet who now looked up at her, wagging his tail and offering her the keys in his mouth. She took them guardedly, and mumbled something along the lines of "Thanks?" and played around with the keys until she found the one that fit the lock. She opened it slowly, and to her surprise, the Kishu didn't run away immediately after she opened the door. She released the keys, leaving them in the door's lock and called through to Mukotsu, "Umm, I'll just leave these here then! Thank you!"

She and the Kishu left the complex, the Kishu looking very proud of himself and Kagome wondering what in the hell she just bought.

They strolled over to her car and not too much to her astonishment, the Kishu just kept on walking. She scowled and scorned, "Hey! You just march your little doggie butt back here!"

The Kishu only took a moment to look back at her and roll his eyes (Kagome swears she wasn't imagining it!). Kagome went on, "Oh come on! The very least you could do is see what my house looks like!" The Kishu didn't even bother to turn around this time. Kagome thought harder, finally coming up with, "I have food!"

The Kishu stopped walking.

Kagome grinned, "I have meat!"

The Kishu swivelled his head around, as if trying to decide whether it was worth it or not.

Kagome bargained, "If you don't like my house, you can leave, but just stay one night and I'll give you a sirloin steak, cross my heart," she motioned. She wasn't lying either. She had bought it a couple days ago and was hoping Hojou would cook it when he got back, but now it was worthless unless she tried her own hand at barbequing.

Her bargaining seemed to work, as the Kishu turned around and went right to her side and sat down, looking a little grudging that she had actually won him over.

She smiled, "Okay then? One night, that's all I ask for. Sirloin for dinner and bacon for breakfast." The Kishu licked his doggy lips and Kagome laughed, opening the car door, "Hop in, sit wherever you like."

He did so, sat right in shotgun. Kagome grinned and started up the car. Freakishly enough his paw seemed coincidentally placed on the widow switch and the window rolled down for him the second the car started up. Kagome was surprised at first, but ultimately left it up to just a mere coincidence. With that, they drove off.

-,-

Ah, now that a new fic has surfaced, I get to write more review responses. Here they are:

Purrdragon: Thank you for being my first reviewer! That makes me particularly happy because I don't even know you from my other story, but you reviewed anyway. I always admired people who would read a story that only had a signle chapter and then review it to give the author encouragement. Thank you very much!

Priestessmykala: Yay! I didn't think anyone from Yamaibara would read this. Thank you for taking time to read my new story, and I hope you find it as enjoyable as Yamaibara.


	3. The Next Morning

My goodness! I got so many reviews! Can hardly believe it! Thank you all, and please look for my responses at the end of the chapter. I wrote one out for each of you.

Chapter 3

The Next Morning

By Auroras-flame

Kagome came upon a stop sign, and took that moment to stare yet again at her doggie companion. He was facing away from her with his eyes focused on the swiftly moving sidewalk. He had his tongue lolling to one side, suggesting the only thing he was thinking about was the steak Kagome had promised him.

She continued on her way saying, "You know what? I need to think up something to call you…"

The dog grumbled loudly. It wasn't his usual feral growl, just a noise he made to show his distaste. Kagome insisted, "Well, I think I shouldn't just call you Inu… I always felt being called what you are takes the personality out of yourself…"

She noticed how the dog rolled his eyes, but she went on anyway, "I mean, even Mukotsu-dog-catcher guy probably still had a name for you. Like, I don't know Devil Dog, Hellhound, Dog Demon…"

All of a sudden the Kishu barked, frightening Kagome for a moment, but she composed herself and repeated, "…Inuyasha?"

He barked again. Kagome dedicated her eyes back to driving but still asked, "Are you actually called Inuyasha?"

Another bark. Kagome felt the name was a bit mean, but shrugged it off, "Okay, unless you don't like the name, I'll call you that too then. Besides, you didn't look like a Fifi to me anyway."

Inuyasha gave her another throaty grumble.

Kagome pulled into her driveway and stepped out of the car. She would have gone around and opened the door for Inuyasha, but he just climbed out through the driver's door and strutted straight to Kagome's house door.

Kagome smiled and shook her head, slamming her car door shut. She retrieved her keys from her purse and unlocked the door. As soon as it was ajar, Inuyasha was already darting all across the house, searching for where the kitchen was.

Kagome couldn't help notice upon entering that her house still looked even more unbearably barren than it used to. Part of that was because they no longer had a giant telly in the front room, leaving a chunk of free space that wasn't there before, another reason was because the things that were technically Hojou's were missing and just his proof of existence was gone from her life.

She sighed, and heard a bark. She looked across the living room to the kitchen entrance and saw Inuyasha staring at her expectantly. She put her hands on her hips and said, "Come now, it isn't even close to dinner time. You're not getting the steak _now_."

Inuyasha's ears went back and his eyes got big, looking as if he was just slapped in the face. His expression quickly changed to him being cross at her and growling. Kagome wasn't exactly shaking in her tennis shoes as she walked past him saying, "If you're _really_ hungry now I could give you a tad of sausage, but no more."

Inuyasha stopped snarling and followed her quietly to the refrigerator. Kagome took out the sausage link and held it before him asking, "Cooked or raw?"

Inuyasha jumped up and snapped it out of her hands, merrily chewing on it as Kagome just sort of stood there, her question answered. Kagome crouched down and watched him eat. It only was a matter of seconds, though. Not even a minute had passed and he was done, looking satisfied.

Kagome commented quietly, "You've got a pretty tail…"

Inuyasha looked up at her warily, and suddenly drew his tail under his belly to hide it from her. Kagome was taken aback for a moment, but then decided to say, just out of curiosity, "And pretty ears…"

His ears went back and flat to his head. Kagome smiled impishly and said, "And pretty paws…" Inuyasha got down onto the ground and covered up his paws, "…and pretty eyes…" he shut them, "… and a pretty nose…" he hid his nose in his fur. Now he just looked like a little cowering ball of fuzz.

Kagome laughed, "Oh come on, now. You just look ridiculous."

Inuyasha uncurled and groused at her. She said through her peals, "Really, it isn't like I'm going to sexually molest you. Hate to tell you this, Yasha-kun, but you aren't my type."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and Kagome continued chortling.

-,-

Later that night, Kagome was brushing her teeth and getting ready for bed. She had gotten out a big bowl and put Inuyasha's steak in there, hoping he wanted that raw as well. As she went on with her nightly rituals, he was chomping away on it.

She put her hair back in a ponytail as so she wouldn't mess it up later. She looked at herself in the mirror and froze suddenly when she saw a shape shift behind her from the outside the doorway.

She didn't dare move. She knew for a fact that she saw something, and it wasn't doggy-sized. She also knew she didn't have anything that was like a cleaver in her bathroom. She just kept close to the sink and said quietly and warily, "Inuyasha…?"

The dog popped his head in immediately, making Kagome squeak at the suddenness of it. Her heart was still pounding but she gave a relieved laugh, "Ah, it was only you, Inuyasha. I thought I saw something… but you're the only one here, right?"

Inuyasha gave her a confused look and he seemed to turn around and examine the place. He tilted his head, confirming that they were the only ones. Kagome smiled weakly, "Sorry, I'm bound to be a little jumpy. Last night my house was broken into, you know. I wasn't there for it, but it's still bound to leave a mark of paranoia on you, huh?"

Inuyasha sat down and made a noise Kagome couldn't fit with an emotion. Feeling calmer, she asked, "Are you done with your steak? Did you like it?"

Inuyasha let out a grunt of pleasure and Kagome beamed, "I'm glad. I was afraid I would have to throw it out since I can't barbeque to save my life." Kagome patted her pajamas down and asked, "Well, are you ready for bed?"

Kagome exited the bathroom and headed for the stairs. Inuyasha followed close behind her. She explained on the way, "Feel free to sleep wherever you like. If you don't want to sleep in the same room as me, I'll be fine with that."

Clearly he wasn't so bothered by the idea since the first thing he did was identify which room was hers, hop up onto the bed, fall to his side, and take up the whole thing dead centre. Kagome ran over to him, "Hey… you can sleep on the bed if you want, but leave some space for me!"

The dog let out one of his grumbles, but ultimately made way for her. To Kagome's distaste, it was her side of the bed that he took up, and Kagome was left with Hojou's end. She glared at the side with disgust and suggested to Inuyasha, "Hey, can we switch?"

Inuyasha snorted and stayed right where he was. Kagome groaned and got under the covers on Hojou's side. She turned off the lights and turned to face Inuyasha. Even with only the moonlight, she could see he was staring at her as well.

Kagome's eyelids drooped a little, and she asked lazily, "So, what do you think? Am I horrible?"

Inuyasha blinked at her. She took that as some sort of sign of acceptance. She giggled, "Nice to know you don't hate me…" She yawned widely. She snuggled deeper into the covers, closed her eyes and said, "Goodnight, Inuyasha."

-,-

The alarm went off noisily, waking Kagome up. Mondays… she so hated Mondays. She moaned and asked Hojou, "Hey, could you turn that off for me?"

"No problem."

"Thanks Hojou…" Kagome mumbled, eyes still sealed shut.

"Nrfgh..."

Kagome nestled deeper under the covers, until she remembered something and her eyes shot open. That was right; she didn't live with Hojou anymore. Then who was this…?

Kagome slowly turned around, her eyes turned into the size of saucers. She was frozen stiff as her gaze fell upon a man who was lying over the covers, still half-asleep. He was lean, but muscular. He had long, white hair that went all the way past his waist and now was draped over the side of the bed. Kagome noticed claws on his big hands and, oddly enough, fuzzy white ears atop his head.

All of this, she could deal with. The thing that really alarmed her, at the time, was the undeniable fact that he was bare-butt naked.

The man had his eyes closed and was looking as serene as any naked man could laying in a girl's bed. Kagome stared at him, mouth agape, and then she did as (almost) all girls would do in her situation: she screamed her blooming head off.

The man was forced awake by the screeching and his ears went flat against his head as Kagome scrambled backwards, out of bed, holding her shriek in a single clear note like a soprano. Kagome lost her balance and her cry was interrupted by her falling straight off of her bed and landing ungracefully on her head and shoulder. She back flipped over and ran to the other side of the room, picked up the butcher knife she had placed down two nights ago, sat up against the wall, and pointed it at the man.

The man, however, was just dazed, confused, and angry about her screaming. He got out of bed, still half-asleep and looked turned around to see what Kagome was possibly screaming at shouting, "Goddamn! What?! What is it?!"

Kagome only became silent out of shock when all she got was a picture perfect view of the man's backside. He turned around and demanded, "There's nothing there, what's with all the screaming, woman?!" Kagome couldn't even bring herself to answer him, being faced with a new viewing point entirely. She closed her eyes tight and screamed, "Get away from me you- you- PERVERT!!! ROBBER! FIEND! RAPIST!"

The man looked all around, and then finally seemed to sober up and look down. Kagome could hear him sigh irritably, "Aw, shit. Hold on a second…"

Kagome opened her eyes, and suddenly saw no one there. She looked around the room frantically. Where did he go?! Out from behind her bed, Inuyasha walked out and sat right beside her. She stared at the dog, who just as evenly stared back. She sighed and lowered her butcher knife, "Some guard dog you are, Inuyasha… were you there all along?" She looked down at the floor and laughed nervously.

"Yup, I was."

Kagome's head shot up and she saw the man sitting there in front of her, looking bored, and still just as naked. Kagome screamed again and went to pick up the butcher knife, but the man was too fast. He held it away from her, restraining her with a hand on her forehead, "Nuh-uh-uh. I don't feel like being run through with a knife today."

Kagome screamed even louder, he clamped down her mouth was his hand and said clearly, "Just calm down. Don't you even remember your pretty dog?"

Kagome's eyes widened. Inuyasha would take care of this guy. She licked his hand and he released her immediately, looking infinitely grossed out. She shouted, "Inuyasha! Inuyasha!"

"Yes, do you want something?" the man asked squarely.

She stared at him wide eyed and tried to call Inuyasha again before he tried to shut her up, "Inuyasha!!!"

He rolled his eyes and rested his cheek on his fist, "Take a hint, lady."

Kagome turned on him, not understanding, "What do you mean? Did you do something to him?"

The man's dog ear twitched, "Woof."

Kagome gaped, slowly but surely comprehending the situation. She asked, her voice trembling, "Inu- Inuyasha…?"

"She has solved the puzzle! Tell her what she's won, Bob!" he clapped derisively.

Kagome only began screaming again. Inuyasha winced and shouted, "Shut up!!"

"Werewolf!!!" she shrieked. Inuyasha gave an exasperated sigh, "Not exactly, but you don't seem to be in a logical state right now so…" He gave her a soft slap across the cheek, snapping her out of her screeching. He told her calmly, "Chill, I am not going to hurt you."

Kagome glared furiously, "What the hell are you talking about? You just _slapped_ me!"

Inuyasha shrugged, "Well, I _did_ try using my words, but that didn't work so…"

As much as Kagome hated to admit it, the slap had cooled her down a bit. She coughed and turned her head away from Inuyasha's bare body. She instructed, "Okay then… Inuyasha… could you please- maybe- wrap something around yourself, perhaps?"

Inuyasha made a grumbling sound she only too well recognized, "Is _that_ what's been bothering you?"

Kagome didn't really have the capacity to tell if he was joking at the moment. It wasn't like hadn't seen a naked male before. For the love of God she had dated Hojou for six years and they lived together. It wasn't her innocence that was in jeopardy here, it was just the shock that her dog had turned into a well built man over night and had been sleeping in her bed that had her edgy.

"There- happy?" he asked grumpily from across the room. Kagome looked up and saw Inuyasha now wearing her bed linen like a towel, wrapped around his waist like a skirt.

Kagome couldn't halt the snort of laughter that escaped her mouth, thinking Inuyasha looked interesting in maize. Inuyasha scowled, "I _will_ take it off. I'm not bothered by my body…"

Kagome waved her hands, "No. Keep it on; please. I'm sorry…" Kagome breathed in, breathed out, and stood up. She walked slowly over to Inuyasha, who was giving her a suspicious eye. She asked, warily, "So- what are you again…?"

Inuyasha shrugged, "I don't know- something along the lines of a were-dog, maybe just a dog demon. I didn't exactly have parents to tell me what the actual name was."

Kagome lowered her head, sympathetically, "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. Never knew them," Inuyasha dismissed nonchalantly.

Kagome looked away from Inuyasha and sighed. She bit down on her thumb and thought. Now that she knew what was going on, she felt a little better. She wasn't afraid of Inuyasha again… but she couldn't exactly keep him now, could she? Even if he wanted to stay, it just wouldn't be right… What would she tell the neighbours if they ever saw him in human form?

Inuyasha noticed the dilemma in her eyes and said, "You don't want me anymore, it's alright. I'm _more_ than willing to leave…." Before Kagome could protest, he had already shrunken down to dog-size and was on his way to the door. She ran up and stopped him, "Wait!"

He looked up at her, waiting. Kagome insisted, "I promised you bacon, didn't I? It's the least I could do before you leave."

Inuyasha was man-sized again, "Really? Awesome."

Kagome squeaked and motioned to the yellow sheets violently. Inuyasha scoffed, "Alright, alright…" and as he got… err… dressed, Kagome rushed down stairs and heated up the pan.

-,-

Breakfast felt more than odd. Kagome had made herself toast with jam and allowed Inuyasha to eat all of the bacon. He wasn't as fast eating the bacon as he was with the sausage and the steak. Maybe it was because he wasn't in dog form…? Or maybe he had a sensitive tongue for heat…? Kagome didn't plan to ask.

"So…" he questioned, taking a small bite out of his bacon, "Do you go to work or something?"

"Yes, but I don't need to be in until nine," Kagome said quietly.

"Oh…" Inuyasha mumbled. There was an uncomfortable silence and Inuyasha stood up, "Geez, I'll just leave if you're that bothered by me… I'm only here for the bacon anyway…"

Kagome immediately felt bad, "No, sit down. I'm just not used to having a big, naked, dog man eating with breakfast with me, that's all. I mean, what would I start a conversation with? Does it give you a draft?" Kagome had meant it to be a friendly joke, but it sounded more like biting sarcasm, and Inuyasha took it that way.

He growled, "It isn't like I just barged in here, I _was_ invited…"

"I know, I know," Kagome puffed out, "I'm sorry I'm not handling this better, but I've had a really bad week…"

Inuyasha sniffed, "Boyfriend left you…?"

Kagome stared at him, wide-eyed, "How did you know that…?"

He snorted, "It reeks of idiot in here. The bed was almost unbearable; I tried to stay on the side that smelled better…"

Kagome watched him sceptically, "Umm… Thank you?"

"It's not saying much to say you smell better than your boyfriend. Don't take it as a compliment," Inuyasha chewed on his bacon.

Kagome felt irked at the were-dog's comment. Kagome had always been very conscientious about her hygiene, and this guy who was filthy from head to toe just told her she didn't smell good (or at least, not that much better than an idiot). She brushed it off, knowing she would likely never see him again.

She noticed his face turn dark and his nostrils flare as a car went by on the street and parked. She didn't even have to get a clear good look at the car from the window to identify what and _who_ it was. The bright orange gave it away…

Kagome lifted her kitchen window's curtain to get a better look. The van had just stopped there. Mukotsu himself came waddling out of the van and straight to her doorstep. Only for a brief lapse of stupidity did she wonder how he got her address before remembering she wrote it down in the paperwork she filled out.

The doorbell rang when she was already halfway to the door. Before opening, she glanced over at Inuyasha in the kitchen, still in human form. Kagome made a motion with her hands that Inuyasha didn't understand. He cocked his head to the side, as if trying to figure out a hard puzzle. Finally Kagome passed her patience point and shouted, "Revert!"

Inuyasha jumped from the sudden noise, and with a grimace, turned back into his doggy form. He glared up at her and growled, and she just growled right back. Funny how she liked him better when she thought he was just a dog…

She opened the door with a fake smile plastered across her face and greeted, "Ah, what a surprise to see you here!"

"We always check on our recently purchased pooches," Mukotsu chuckled as if he had something planned, "How is ours by the way? Being well fed and homed properly?"

Kagome smirked, realizing he had entirely expected Inuyasha to run off the second he was out of the pound. He had actually waited a day just so he could poke fun at her. Kagome nodded, "Well, I suppose… Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha appeared far behind Kagome in the living room with a piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth. Mukotsu gaped, and then switched between gawking at Kagome and Inuyasha, seemingly co-existing in perfect harmony. _Seemingly_ being the keyword here.

Mukotsu coughed, "So, you bribed him with food. See how long that lasts for." He turned around and headed back for his car, leaving Kagome only slightly peeved that he had figured out what she did to get Inuyasha to stay with her for so long. She slammed the door and headed back to the window to watch Mukotsu leave.

To her surprise (although it really shouldn't have), he just got into the car and sat there. He wasn't going away or anything. Mukotsu looked up from the driver's seat, and their eyes caught. He waved to her merrily and showed her a magazine, suggesting he would be reading it for quite a while.

Kagome glowered and drew the curtain back with a huff. She told Inuyasha, "He's waiting for you."

"No, duh," Inuyasha scoffed, returning to his human form and quickly wrapping the sheet around his waist so Kagome wouldn't scream, "Figure that all by yourself, Nancy Drew?"

Kagome shot him a glare, growing more and more fed up with his sarcastic remarks. Kagome ignored it for the time being.

Inuyasha spared the van and Mukotsu a bored glance before announcing, "Does he really think that him sitting out there is going to stop me? Nine out of the ten past times I always got away and he always somehow ended up with trash in his mouth. What makes him think he'll get lucky again like last time?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the tens of tranquilizer darts he has stuffed in his traffic-cone orange van… that might mislead him to believe he has an edge over you…" Inuyasha's cynicism was rubbing off on her.

Inuyasha just sneered at her and said, "Well, I'll just go through your backyard and hop over the fence into your neighbour's backyard and escape from there."

Kagome shook her head aggressively, "No, no, no, don't do that. All of my neighbours have been having trouble with bears recently and all of their lawns are booby trapped. Five cats and one bear has been caught in tiger holes already. You'll just get hurt."

"Oh please, I'm smarter than an average bear; I can identify where there are hidden three metre holes in the ground," Inuyasha told her inflexibly, folding his arms.

Kagome didn't feel like arguing with him about this, "Okay, you can, but can't you just wait him out?"

Inuyasha gave her a peculiar look as she went on, "I already felt bad when I saw you all tied up at the pound and shot on the street; I don't want to go through that again-"

"Oh, poor _you_," Inuyasha cut in sharply.

"Please, just for your own safety and my heart will you just wait out the Catcher? I have to leave for work soon, but now that I know you can have opposable thumbs, you can let yourself out, right? Once the coast is clear?" Kagome entreated.

Inuyasha still had a stubborn look on his face. He said, once more, "I could just run my way through. It isn't too hard to dodge a bullet…"

Kagome sighed and beseeched one more time, "Please…?"

Inuyasha unfolded his arms and sighed loudly, "Fine, you naggy woman. But only because you took that choke collar off of me, no other reasons."

Kagome replied critically, "What? No thanks for breaking you out, or un-muzzling you, or standing up for you?"

"No," he spat immaturely, "I paid you back for those by not killing you, biting you, or scratching you," he gave her a dead serious stare, "Believe me: you're the first human in a long while to have touched me and not get bitten."

Kagome supposed that was meant to be flattering. She commented dryly, "Aren't you the charmer."

Inuyasha rumbled and shrunk back into his dog form.

-,-

Ah, end of chapter 3. For those who aren't familiar with my work, I write a response for every review I receive. Please look for yours!

Phoebe Holly: Thank you. The Kishu's reactions seemed to be popular around my reviewers. I hope to hear from you again.

Beautiful.Black.Joy: I'm happy you like the dog. I'm not sure if you should still know which direction the fic is going just yet, but around the next chapter you should have a much better idea. Thank you for your very flattering review!

Animefan141: Thank you. I hope you continue to enjoy my fanfiction as much as you do now.

Kylexi: An adorable story…? I like that. Thank you very much for reviewing and I hope I keep up with your expectations.

Purrdragon: It's good to hear from you again! I'm happy you enjoyed that scene so much; I tried to make it amusing. Thank you for reviewing again!

Shrimps of Mass Destruction: Thank you for reviewing, I'll try to update as soon as possible. By the way, I love your name!

Hot for ABERCROMBIE: Ah, Hojou will be reappearing, just as a warning for you (although he won't be much of a threat). And yes, you guessed right, Inuyasha is the doggie (as you obviously know by now…)Thank you for your review! I'm so glad you like the story so far.

MusicLuva: Yup, you guessed right. Thank you for reviewing and I'll try to update as frequently as I can.

Angela: Thank you! I will keep writing it, hopefully I'll finish it too. :)

Thank you all for reviewing! You don't know how much it means to me!!


	4. Another Intrusion

I went to dinner tonight and swore if I received just a single review by the time I came back I would update by the end of the night. Well, thanks to Priestessmykala and Sessie, you get this chapter today instead of sometime tomorrow. I hope you all enjoy it!

OMG!!! I don't know what on Earth just happened!!! For some reason every single 'Kagome' and 'Kouga' in my text turned into "I". I can only thank bunny a million times for pointing this out to me. I have no idea what happened! I certainly didn't type it that way! If you can spot anymore "I"s in the place of Kagome or kouga, please inform me. Geez, everyone must have thought I was on something… I'm so sorry! (Oh! And Sango, too!) Dammit!

Chapter 4

Another Intrusion

By Auroras-flame

Kagome strutted angrily into work today, in an awful, foul mood. She hurled her jacket and purse onto her desk and slipped into her chair with a groan. She had never met a man who was so dense in the head before! She had always thought Hojou was a little on the dim side, but next to Inuyasha, he was like a flipping Einstein.

This morning, right after he had reverted into dog form Kagome had gone back to her room to get changed into her work clothes. She had never shut the door before, never feeling the need to since Hojou had already seen her naked ::cough::. So, out of habit she left the door open. The next thing she knew, right after only putting her panties on she saw Inuyasha sitting outside her room, _watching_ her get changed.

Obviously she retaliated and threw something, perhaps a shoe, in his general direction before slamming the door shut and locking it. Through the door, Inuyasha began yelling at her, calling her crazy. Kagome tried to reason with him (in a rather loud voice…) that women did not liked being spied on, but the man genuinely did not understand why she was so upset by that.

Being a dog for the majority of the time was no excuse: the boy _had_ to get a clue. Speaking of which, just when did he turn human? Clearly it isn't every full moon, he had turned human in the morning… obviously it wasn't a day thing either because he was all dog the day before… Whatever, she shouldn't be forced to worry about this, he was going to leave soon anyway…

With a final squeal of resentment, Kagome began to focus on the work her boss left out for her. To her surprise, she saw no post it notes, no e-mail messages, as she usually did. She lifted up her things and scanned her desk a little harder and finally discovered a bright red (she didn't even know they made those…) post it note with thick black sharpie scribbled across it.

_**NEW BOSS. YOU'RE LATE!**_

Kagome stared vacantly at the post it note and pondered it over. Yeah, work usually started at eight for her, but Totosai said she could always come an hour later every Monday. Another thought zoomed by and she cursed. There was a new boss.

Kagome tensed up and the clicking of angry heels stormed over to her general location. She turned her head slowly to see a low level cubicle worker, Yura, march haughtily up to her, eyes red with anger. Oddly enough, she had a coffee mug in her hands…

Yura spotted Kagome and headed her way. She halted in front of her, glaring contemptuously, gripping the coffee mug white-knuckle hard. For a fleeting moment, Kagome suspected she was going to throw it in her face, and flinched as Yura clacked the mug harshly down on her desk.

Yura put her hands on either side of the mug and leaned closely into Kagome, forcing her to rear backwards. Yura snarled, "I hate you."

Kagome just watched circumspectly, not sure of what to say. Yura was typically a good-natured girl, Kagome could honestly say she had never seen her this angry before. Yura continued her hateful speech, "It is not _my_ job to get the boss coffee. WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!!!"

Kagome narrowly avoided the spittle that came out of Yura's shriek. Yura stood up straight and pointed an accusatory at the door leading to the boss' office, "He's been here since seven, and as gone through SIX CUPS OF COFFEE! Do you hear me?! I've been getting called out of my office every twenty minutes because you're stupid face wasn't here to get his bloody coffee! Well," she pointed both of her fingers down at the cup, "YOU GET HIM HIS BLOODY COFFEE NOW!!!" With that, she stormed off and left Kagome a little freaked out and with a nice steaming cup of Asahi Blend.

Kagome then stared down at the cup. Was she supposed to be getting him coffee? Secretaries didn't get the boss coffee!!! That was temp work! Who the hell did this arsehole think he was?

Kagome stood up, took the coffee and stomped into the boss' office herself without even knocking.

To her surprise, he didn't even look up, as if he was expecting her to come swaggering in furiously soon. Continuing to look down at his papers he said calmly, "I assume the sound outside was of you meeting up with Yura? Hope you two weren't friends…"

Kagome stopped in her place and just stared at her new boss. He had surprisingly long hair, which he kept back in a ponytail. Though his eyes were down, she could see they were a shocking blue colour. He was also quite young, maybe only a few years older than she was.

Gathering up her inner strength she strode straight up to him and placed the coffee down. With that done, she told him severely, "Sir…" she glanced down at his name plate, "Kouga-san, it is not in my job description, nor is it in Yura's, to get you coffee."

"Mm-hm…" he mumbled insipidly, still not looking up, "But it is in your job description to arrive at work punctually and on time every morning, is it not?"

Kagome sighed and laced her arms, "I'm sorry sir, but Totosai-san always let me get another hour to sleep in on Mondays. I had forgotten that he would be gone this week, so I just did as my old schedule approved me to do. Besides," Kagome allowed herself a glare at Kouga, "Yura said you had been bothering her since seven o' clock, and my time doesn't start until eight, what you were doing was not getting even with me, it was just harassing a poor girl who has been working faithfully at this establishment for two years!"

Kouga finally got distracted from his paperwork, laughing hollowly, "I'm sorry, did you just tell me how to do my-" he finally looked up at Kagome, "-job…?"

Kagome bit the inside of her cheek, knowing now she was headed into dangerous territory, "No, sir, I was telling you how Yura and I do our jobs."

Kouga just stared up at her, face still frozen from his smirk. Kagome waited for some sort of reply, shifting her weight to the other leg. Finally Kouga began laughing again, sounding a little more genuine. This only ticked off Kagome and she gave him a dirty look. Catching it, Kouga declared, "I like you!"

Kagome's strength disappeared and was replaced with befuddlement. She gawked at him perplexedly, "Come again?"

"I like you," he repeated with a sly grin, "You got spunk! I've never seen a secretary with more spunk!"

Kagome wasn't sure if she should be thanking him for a compliment, or slowly inching away from him, afraid he might crack…

"What did you say was your name again?" he asked, shoving his papers to the side.

Kagome took a step backwards, "I never gave it…"

Kouga leaned back in his chair, "Oh, what's the point of being prudish? You've already told me off and you're working for me to boot. I could just as easily as ask Yura to come up and tell me your name, so why don't you just save me the trouble?"

Her eye twitched with aggravation, "Kagome."

Kouga beamed, "Kagome… well, I hope we enjoy each other's company throughout our undoubtedly long partnership together."

Kagome forced out a smile, "Indeed." She quickly pivoted around and headed straight back to her desk. For heaven's sake, was it just her or was her life all of a sudden being filled with vile men?

-,-

It was lunch hour and Kagome didn't really feel like going out. Instead, she just took a short walk to the company's vending machine with a five dollar bill in her pocket. It was just much easier this way, buying some rubbish that would make her heart stop.

By the time she got back from the machine, her telephone was ringing at her desk. She grouched, and ran over to pick it up before it was too late.

"Hello, Kisetsu Corp, Toto- I mean Kouga-san's office, who may I say is calling?" Kagome answered.

"Uh, that's you, Kagome, right?" the caller replied.

Kagome gave the phone a look. She wasn't used to receiving any calls at work that weren't for her boss, this was exceptionally weird. Her eyes narrowed, trying to decide who the voice was, "Uh, yes, I am she… who are you…?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, this is your next door neighbour, Koharu," she explained.

Kagome smiled, knowing the girl well, but suddenly became suspicious, "What is it Koharu? Has something happened?"

"Well…" Koharu sounded uneasy, "Yes, something did happen. Your dog attacked someone."

Kagome's heart stopped and she hid her face in her hand, exasperated, "Lemme guess: an unattractive man in an orange suit?"

"No…"

Kagome's head shot up. "It was a robber," Koharu explained, "I heard the worst racket coming from your house and when I came out, there was your dog with a piece of some man's knickers in his mouth and a man fleeing away from him at the speed of sound."

"How do you know it was a robber?" Kagome interrogated, worrying for a moment it was actually just an innocent civilian like a mailman.

"Well, the handkerchief tied under his nose might have tipped me off," Koharu said critically, "Anyway, I've already contacted the police. They'll be here in no time at all. You might want to get off work early and come see to your dog. He looks like he might've been clubbed."

Kagome gasped and hung up the phone. She put on her jacket and slung her purse over her shoulder. She decided solely based on decency to inform Kouga of her departure. She poked her head into his office and sputtered off, "House broken into, dog hurt, police coming, bye!" before slamming the door shut and heading to the elevator.

-,-

Three familiar faces welcomed Kagome when she got home: her next-door neighbour Koharu, and detectives Sango and Miroku. Kagome got out of her car and ran out to talk to them.

Sango, who was looking quite incensed, greeted her, "Miss Higurashi…"

Kagome thought for a moment that Sango's perverseness was directed at her until Miroku jumped in front of her and shook her hand, "Oh thank you, _thank you_ for proving me right!" He turned on Sango and mimicked her by putting his hands on his waist and gaining a cartoon-ish falsetto voice, "'_Oh, belt up, Miroku! What use would a ruddy dog be?! That's such a stupid idea_!' It's a brilliant idea, that's what that is!" Miroku turned back to Kagome, and dramatically sniffed, "You're my hero…"

Sango twat him across the head and returned to the problem at hand, "So you've had yet again another break in. I think we can agree that this has left the realm of coincidence."

Kagome looked around, ultimately ignoring Sango's words, "Where is Inuyasha?"

Sango eyed her, "Do you mean the dog?"

Kagome nodded, wondering if he might be in the house, "Yes, I heard he got hurt…"

All three exchanged guilty glanced. Koharu was the first to speak up, "Sorry, when the detectives got here he limped away in the direction of the robber. I tried to call him back, but he just wouldn't listen to me…"

Kagome felt her stomach churn. He left. Just like that. Well, she was expecting him to leave, but couldn't he have just waited until she got home and knew he was alright? Yeah, he was a loud, rude sod, but when he was a dog, she found she cared quite a deal about him.

"But the dog did splendidly if Koharu's telling is accurate," Miroku mentioned encouragingly, "Not only did he protect your home, but he gave the perpetrator a snap on the leg!"

"Miroku's right," Sango admitted, "and who knows? He might come back. Granted, he only knew you for two days, but perhaps our sirens just scared him away and he's just hiding right now until we leave."

Kagome wanted to smile, just to show them all that their words were appreciated, but she couldn't manage it. Inuyasha wasn't coming back. He'd made that clear.

Sango, realizing talking about the dog wasn't making Kagome feel any better said, "Well, your house, apart from a broken lock, is as perfect as we left it two nights ago. Honestly though, you may want to consider buying a real security system… like _today_."

Kagome bobbed her head in agreement. She didn't know what these guys were after, but they were very persistent… and even if the two break-ins weren't related, then that would mean that there was just a big glowing sticker on Kagome's house saying "steal from me, I'm vulnerable".

"If you want, I could suggest a few to you right now…" Sango told her.

Kagome paid close attention.

-,-

Kagome returned home very late with a small plastic bag and a lot on her mind. She had just been to the shopping centre to pick up a new security system and she must've waited in line almost the entire time.

She unlocked her door and peeked in before she fully entered, just to see if there had been any robberies in the span that she was out.

"'Bout time you got here!"

Kagome jumped, and saw a partially clothed Inuyasha sitting at the dining room table. From some place Kagome could only venture a guess, he had managed to pick up a pair of what looked like deep purple board shorts, but they might've been swimming trunks…

"Inuyasha, what are you still doing here?" she asked, although she couldn't keep the relief hidden from her voice as she rushed over to see him.

"Waiting for you," he stated simply.

Kagome smiled. Aww, he _did_ care.

"So you could flipping bandage me up right! You told me to wait it out and now I think I've lost a quart of my blood, you bitch!" he snapped.

Kagome's smile evaporated and she dropped the security system down on the table, "_What_ did you just call me?"

"Because of _your_ lousy advice and because of _your_ stupid enemies, I got thwapped with a pointy, iron rod and it hurt like hell!" he wanked.

At first I felt a bit of guilt, until she knew that she didn't have to. Her eyes narrowed, "What do you mean _enemies_?"

Inuyasha scoffed, "Well, you else would be breaking into your house for the fourth time?"

Kagome's eyes widened and her mouth parted slightly. She composed herself enough to demand, "What do you mean for the _fourth_ time?!! They've only been here once before!"

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose, "No they haven't. I heard one complaining about breaking in for the fourth time…"

"THERE ARE _TWO_ OF THEM?!"

"Yes, there were two, cool down," Inuyasha groused, covering his ears, "There was a man and a woman. I bit the man but the woman escaped as soon as she saw me."

Kagome listened in shocked disbelief. They had broken in that many times? Why would they bother? They didn't destroy anything the first couple times, it was only the last time when she possibly could have noticed their entry.

"For your information, there was also another one, that didn't come back with them this time…" Inuyasha added, fully capturing Kagome's attention, "I recognized their scents from when they were here… a couple days ago…?" Kagome confirmed he was right and he went on, "And there was one more with them last time. He smelled ranker than the other two put together…"

Kagome furrowed her eyebrows, feeling that knowing how bad they smelled wasn't going to help her identify who had broken into her house. Inuyasha cleared his throat loudly, distracting her away from her thoughts. "Bleeding here," he pointed to his leg which I had dismissed until now.

Kagome gasped when she saw the deep oozing cut that was now leaking onto the floor. Despite feeling a bit squeamish, she ran over to the kitchen sink and grabbed a dish towel, rinsing it with hot water before running back to Inuyasha.

"How long have you had this?!" she queried frantically, wrapping the hot cloth around Inuyasha's leg.

"Oh, about since the time the bastard ran me through with the pole…" Inuyasha speculated sarcastically, wincing from how hot the cloth was.

"But that was _hours_ ago! Why didn't you just limp over to the vet hospital or something and look cute?" Kagome questioned as she ran for the bathroom to find the Neosporin and disinfectant.

Inuyasha yelled after her, "You might not have noticed this: but I'm not exactly your garden variety Kishu! And considering that I had a broken bone a while ago that just healed up, they might get a tad suspicious that I healed so quickly."

Kagome returned from the bathroom and gave him a dubious stare, "Wait- your leg got broken… and then it healed…?"

"And you're talking to a dog demon. What seems more believable?"

Kagome placed her hands on her hips, "Well if you just heal so goddamn fast then why can't I just leave your cut be?"

"The stupid ass Dog Catcher injected me with something right before you came," he winced at the sight of his leg which was now dripping with water downed blood, "I'm getting and inkling it might be a lot of blood thinner."

"Well then why didn't you first try treating it yourself?" Kagome argued.

"I did," he told her defensively, motioning towards his deep purple swim trunks, "These were blue when I found them. I just figured you'd prefer bloody me to naked me."

Kagome blanched at the swim trunks; and yieldingly she began unwrapping his leg to apply the disinfectant. She gave him a brief warning as she was cleaning up the bloody area around his gash, "This might hurt a bit…"

"Oh, hold my hand, I'm frightened; just get on with it already!" he retorted.

As a response, she put a lot of disinfectant on the cotton ball and applied a little more pressure than what was needed to the wound. He yelped and pulled away shouting, "That fucking hurt, bitch!!"

She held out her hand innocently, "Want to hold it?"

He sneered at the hand and returned to his normal position. She repeated the procedure, only nicely this time. His leg still recoiled slightly from the cotton ball, but Inuyasha made no complaints.

Patting it lightly, she looked up at him. Even though he was human now, she could still see some of the dog that she thought was so beautiful in him. She focused back on the leg and murmured, "Thank you, by the way…"

He gave her a confused look to which she explained, "For chasing them away, even though you didn't have to…"

Inuyasha's face relaxed a little. He folded his arms and slouched in his chair, resembling a child, "Well, you gave me sausage…"

Kagome laughed and remarked, "You know, you don't need to do something nice for me every time I do something nice for you…" His face returned to being bemused, "…Something done out of kindness is always better than something done out of bribery or compensation, that's what I think."

"But then how would you let that person know that you're grateful?" Inuyasha's ear twitched.

Kagome smiled at how intently he was listening to her, "You say thank you, and your welcome. That's all."

Kagome didn't bother to see what Inuyasha's reaction was going to be. She just did a few last wipes of the disinfectant, and then put it down and brought out the Neosporin. She squeezed nearly a third of the bottle out and began rubbing Inuyasha's leg.

"You're a nice human…"

Kagome stopped rubbing to look up at him again. His face was entirely loose now. His eyes seemed peaceful, and almost in a daze. Kagome just continued to stare at his tranquil expression until he caught on and became embarrassed. He forced his gaze away to the side and Kagome noticed him tint pink.

She giggled and continued on with the applying the Neosporin.

"So," Kagome started up a new conversation, thinking that the other one had become a little weird, "How does your phasing from dog to human work? It obviously isn't a cycle sort of thing. Can you just change it by will?"

Inuyasha eyed her suspiciously, but then said, "Most of the time I have total power over when I change. The times I have the most control are during the first and third quarter moons."

Kagome bobbed her head, now beginning to bandage the leg up, "Okay, I see, so what happens on the new and full moons then? Is it just harder to change?"

"As the moon waxes it becomes harder and harder to change out of dog form, the opposite happens when the moon wanes," he explained succinctly.

Kagome glanced up at him and noticed how he had a guarded look about him. She commented, "You don't like telling me this, do you?"

"It isn't exactly something I go around advertising, so, no, it's just that you let me sleep on your bed that I-"

"Inuyasha," Kagome interrupted, "You have a real problem with accepting kindness, don't 'cha? If you don't want to tell me, then don't tell me about it. I'm not going to force the information out of you."

Inuyasha gave another immature pout and said, "Fine, I _won't_ tell you then."

"Fine by me."

Kagome finished up the bandaging and pat him lightly on the knee, "There! All done. Just don't go switching into doggy form, I don't think my bandaging can shrink along with your leg."

"You callin' my dog form wimpy?" Inuyasha glared.

"No, I'm calling your dog form naturally smaller than your human form, as it should be," Kagome told him, rising from her position on the ground. She stared down at Inuyasha and sighed, "Well, I guess you'll be staying here tonight then. Can't very well have you gallivanting about half-naked in your human form."

"Why the hell not?" Inuyasha demanded, more irate over the fact she was restricting him than the fact he wanted to go gallivanting.

"Because people don't take kindly to creepy, loopy nudists, particularly those who go wandering about at night," Kagome remarked cheerfully. She paused in thought, "Perhaps I ought to Google up the duration of blood thinners are… the Catcher couldn't have injected more than a needle's worth…"

Inuyasha sneered, "Whatever, I'll just find out once I stop bleeding…"

"…Or until you bleed to death!" Kagome countered.

Inuyasha grouched, "Well- if I have to stay here, I'm keeping the better smelling side of the bed."

Kagome's face froze, "What makes you think you're sleeping on the bed? _I'm_ sleeping on the bed."

"Yeah, so?" Inuyasha said, "I'll sleep next to you. There's plenty of room."

Kagome waved her hands around, "No, no, no, no, no! There is _not_ enough room."

"What nonsense are you spouting? There is to room. I fit just fine last night."

"Last night I didn't know you could turn into a man; what's more, a starkers one!" Kagome declared.

Inuyasha stared at her as if she had something wrong with her brain, "What does that have anything to do with it?"

Kagome hung her head. She didn't want to give up the fight, but she just couldn't figure how to battle with this kind of daftness. This man was so dim it was hurting her. "Fine," she said, throwing her hands in the air, and then pointing a finger at him, "But don't you try anything, or I'll turn you into a bitch!"

Inuyasha was silent for a while, as if what she said actually scared him, but that didn't last for long as he began to roar with laughter, "I finally get it! You think I'm after you! That's why you kept on screaming and screaming! Please!" he exclaimed, his laughter subsiding. He dawned a smirk, "I saw what you had and it was not _nearly_ enough to tempt me. You're a little too proud of yourself, aren't you?"

kagome held a stony face towards him, "On second thought, you can sleep on the lawn."

"Wha-?" Kagome delivered a quick, unmerciful kick right under his wound, making him yowl in pain. His eyes turned (figuratively) crimson with fury at her, "I'M INJURED BITCH!!!"

"You'll get over it," Kagome told him as she walked to and up the stairs, "You can stay in the house if you want, just because you're injured. But if you take one step into my room I will _kill_ you!" She slammed the door shut and that ended the night.

-,-

Uhhhggg!!!! I'm so embarrassed. Loads of thanks again to bunny who pointed it out. I have not the slightest clue what could have been wrong… I can't help but have an inkling it had to do with because when I downloaded it I had to try it three times before it actually worked.

MusicLuva: Actually, I came up with this idea after reading Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Series. (Fantastic books, I'd recommend them in a heartbeat) I recently finished the last one where the werewolf in it was totally rejected by the heroine, and I felt just so bad for him, I thought up this story, and the merely applied Inuyasha characters to it. Thank you for the review! It was very speedy (I got it only thirty minutes after I posted the chapter)

Beautiful.Black.Joy: This was my face the majority of the time I read your review: O.o;;;. So intense… but look! I updated before the day was out, let alone within the month! The loved the combination between threatening me with a million reviews, and the adding a happy emoticon on the end of your review. That made me laugh.

Miroku'sWife07: Thank you! Yay! Someone else who loves Miroku! I'm not sure if he'll be in the story much, but I do try to add him in as much as I can. Who doesn't love a merry pervert? I hope to hear from you again!

Oofie: Thank you, your words means a lot. Thank you for the review!

Kagome1312: Hello, you! Thank you for reviewing my newest story! Once I stop hitting the wall on Yamaibara I hope to hear from you there, too!

Priestessmykala: Yes, I know that I have a lot of American references in his fic. There is a reason behind it though. Japan has been becoming more and more Americanized every day, particularly in food and in the media. That's the real reason for their presence. I still plan to make it very clear that this fic takes place in Japan though. Don't give up on me just yet. Thank you so much for the review. It's always a joy hearing from you.

Sessi: Thank you for reviewing my story! You're sort of the reason it's popping up tonight instead of tomorrow. Your emoticons are really cute. I wish would show the shift6 carrot mark so I could make cute faces too. -.-;;;


	5. Springtime Fresh

Oh my goodness!!!! I've gotten so many reviews, I hardly know what to do!!!!! It's actually gotten to the point where I can't reply to every, single one of them individually without taking up an unreasonable amount of space! I'm sorry everyone, I'll still have replies, but there is a chance some of you might be added to a "general thank you" list. You'll just have to believe me when I say that all of your reviews are precious to me, even the ones that are only one word.

Well, without further ado…

Chapter 5

Springtime Fresh

By Auroras-flame

Kagome's alarm went off and she groaned. She really despised that thing to pieces. She rolled over slightly and began thrashing at the air, trying to turn off her alarm. Instead she hit something quite different.

"What the- OW! That hurt!"

Kagome suddenly sobered up and her arm was grabbed out of the air. She threw herself around and saw Inuyasha, lying down in the place she was sleeping last night, with a small bonk on his head and a peeved expression.

"What on Earth??!! How did- When did- Why are you in here?!" Kagome yelled, searching for the right question.

"Because I wanted to sleep on the bed. Don't worry, your innocence has been kept intact," he informed her wryly, as he attempted to get back to sleep

Kagome wasn't that innocent, but she wasn't going to tell him that… She ripped her wrist out of his hands, "How did you get _there_? I was sleeping there last night! It's my side of the bed!"

"Doesn't the phrase go… you sleep like a log…?" Inuyasha mulled over calmly, not alarmed at all by Kagome's anger, "Well, you sleep like a one hundred foot, old redwood. While I was rolling you over to the stinky side of the bed, I had to double check a couple times to see if you were alive or not…"

Kagome's mouth hung open, appalled by his nerve. She reached over and flicked his ear and Inuyasha yipped, "Ow! Hey- Don't touch my ears!!"

Kagome flicked the other ear, "Shoo!"

"Hey!!!"

Inuyasha let out a growl at her, but Kagome only sighed at the sound of it, "I'm going to change and get ready for work. I don't think I have anymore meat left in the house, would you care for some toast and jam for breakfast? I'll be more than willing to fix some up when I'm done," she reasoned.

Inuyasha visibly grimaced at the mention of there being no more meat, but after what was perhaps a pause of deliberation he said, "Alright, I'll try it… It's what you were having yesterday, right? You aren't trying to stuff kibble down my throat are you?"

Kagome laughed at his naïveté, positively charmed, "No, toast is not kibble. I'll fix you up some, but you have to leave my room now. Just wait in the kitchen, I won't be long."

Inuyasha gave her a glare because of her laughing, but he hobbled down the stairs, just the same. Kagome just smiled at his back. Well, at least he was listening to her…

-,-

Kagome came into work promptly, and on time, just as Kouga said she should. She couldn't help shuddering with annoyance when she thought about Kouga. To her, he just seemed like the dictionary definition picture of the word arse.

No sooner did she think it than did the arse himself come strolling out of his office and approach her desk. Kagome winced, expecting him to be angry about her little leaving early message that she yelled into his office yesterday. On the contrary, he was looking quite pleased and happy to see her.

It made her worry…

"Kagome, could you come into my office please? I need to write a letter, but my hand writing is just so bad. Could you scribe it for me?" Kouga asked, looking as chipper as a dandelion.

Kagome eyed him warily, and commented, "Then might I suggest, instead of writing out the letter, you e-mail this letter, Sir? Or at least just type it out? Then you won't have to worry about neatness at all, or even spelling now that the computer does it for you." Although it won't stop you from sounding like an arse, she added mentally.

"Oh, you see, that's the problem," he went on, still grinning, "I'm writing to my father, and he's one of those types that are very, very traditional. Like, won't even write left to right, traditional…"

"Then would that be only more reason to write to him yourself?" she pointed out, "Your father of all people should know that you're not writing the letter because the hand writing looks different…"

"Oh, come on, it isn't like scribe work isn't mentioned in the job description. Now come on, I've been waiting for you to show up for ten minutes," he walked back into his office, expecting her to follow.

Kagome grumbled. Even if scribe work was mentioned, it hadn't been practiced too often since the early 1990s. Oh well… Kagome picked up a pen and small piece of paper in case he didn't have any prepared and walked after him into the office.

Kouga was behind his chair, and motioned for her to sit down. Kagome did so and found a fountain pen and beautiful Japanese paper laid before her. Kagome stuffed the inferior pen and paper into her jacket pockets and lifted the pen. She tapped her foot as she waited for him to start.

"Ready?" he enquired, as if her twitching was not enough.

Kagome glanced at him expectantly. He took that as a yes and began, "Dear Vice President Hitsukami Sojou…"

Kagome couldn't even stop herself, "Do you really speak to your father like that?"

Kouga raised an eyebrow, now even seeing humour in it, "Yes."

Oh, geez. Kagome felt a little guilty after that, and wrote in what he said, "Alright, go on."

"Before that," Kouga reached over Kagome and went for a drawer in his desk and pulled out a simple, silver bracelet with a crescent moon charm on it. Kagome stared at it, and then stared at him, totally lost.

"It's for you," he explained, "Think of it as an apology for pulling that prank with Yura. Here, let me put it on…"

Kagome stood up suddenly and put both wrists behind her back. She had seen this before! It was like watching the movie 9 to 5 again, that's what this was like! Everything from the cute secretary to the sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical, bigot standing right in front of her. She told him firmly, "No, Kouga-san! I remember there being a fairly bold line in my job description that said to keep all relationships platonic. There shall be no exchanging of gifts."

Kouga snorted, not put off, "Oh, you're over reacting. My intentions are entirely platonic! Which is why I'd like to ask you, just out of the spirit of friendship, in a totally noncommittal, un-date-like sort of way to have dinner with me tonight?"

Kagome gawked at his audacity. She finally composed herself and warned him, "Look. I like my job, but I will quit if I am sexually harassed."

"Hey, who's sexually harassing anyone?" he asked, "I said out of the spirit of friendship. I'm very professional, Kagome, I would never jeopardize my current working station just for something like a date." Kagome's eyes narrowed. The way he spoke, she couldn't exactly tell if he was serious or saying it just to appease her and not tell on him.

"So… what do you say?" he took a step forward, but just as Kagome was about to reject him once more, he lunged at her, knocking them both to the ground.

"Oh, sorry! Tripped," Kouga said, as he pinned her to the ground.

"Oh, yeah, I'm SURE," Kagome screeched.

"No seriously, I'm getting up, it was an accident…"

Of course, it was just at that moment after he said it that there was a knocking at the door and who else, but Yura would pop her head in. She saw the two on the ground and her eyes got wide. She covered up the grin on her mouth and she rushed away.

Kagome stared at the space Yura was at just moments ago and groaned. Kouga had gotten up and offered her his hand for help, but Kagome just shook her head and hid her face in her hands, "Now I really do have to quit…"

"No you don't, it was all just a misunderstanding," Kouga huffed, prying her hands away from her face and bringing her up. She protested, "No, I do have to quit, or be forever known as the hussy who snogged the boss on his second day."

Kouga blinked, 'Well, that doesn't seem like such a bad title…"

"You're unbelievable!!" she shouted.

He held up his hands in a fit of surrender, "Okay, okay. Here, how about this: you go home now and I tell everyone you've been sick the entire day and never came to work. Yura already has something against you…"

"Something you caused!"

"… so it'll look like she was just spreading rumours," Kouga reasoned.

Kagome grumbled, liking the idea of leaving early, but still wanting to fight, "But it won't help, you know. People, here, love scandal! They'd believe Yura if she said that I had vowed to have sex with every man in the building before Christmas, even if I had never slept with one."

"_I'll_ take care of Yura, you just go home on sick leave, alright?" Kouga said, sitting in his chair.

Kagome sighed. She couldn't think of an easier way. She strolled to his door and Kouga quickly cut in, "Oh- and dinner?"

"NO."

"Oh, fine."

-,-

Kagome entered her house, with an armful of bags on her shoulder. After being dismissed by Kouga, the very first thing she did was go shopping for men's clothes. Those (literally) bloody swim trunks were making her nauseous. She also bought more meat. He ate the toast without complaint, but it was clear he just didn't enjoy it as much.

"Inuyasha!" she called into the house, "I'm home early."

"Hey!" was the greeting from the bathroom.

Kagome blushed. Actually, she just sort of figured that Inuyasha never went to the bathroom…

Suddenly the door opened and there stood Inuyasha, dripping wet, and (no real surprise) nearly naked if not for Kagome's personal body towel wrapped, loosely around his waist. Kagome's bags dropped off her shoulder and landed on the ground with a thump. She really didn't notice.

"Took a shower," he explained. He sniffed the air, and then stared excitedly at the bags on the ground, "Meat!!"

He ran over to the bags, with quite some difficulty considering he was wearing a towel, and had to limp a little because of the now, useless bandages wrapped around his leg.

Kagome quickly returned to her senses and snapped the bags up before Inuyasha could get his hands on them. She held them away from him saying, "Dinner."

Inuyasha's ears flattened out in disappointment, making her giggle. She turned her attention to his leg and scolded, "Oh, now I'm going to have to get all a whole new bandage. You probably should have wrapped this in plastic before going in, you know."

Inuyasha scoffed as she unwrapped his leg, "Whatever, I just got bored and figured that showering would give me something to do."

"Were you entertained?" she asked sardonically.

"It smelled nice," he admitted, "All of the idiot stench had been washed away with the steam, so all I could smell was…" he stopped halfway through his sentence. Kagome prompted him on, "Smelled like…?"

"Soap," he said simply.

"Oo, big surprise. A bathroom smelling like soap," Kagome remarked, finally done unravelling his bandages. She both winced and smiled at Inuyasha's leg. It had become just a humongous, disgusting scab. Still, better than him leaking like a faucet.

She stood up and clapped her hands, "You're healed- sort of. No more bleeding."

Inuyasha looked down at his leg and stuck out his tongue in disgust. He reached down to touch the scab before Kagome slapped his wrist, "Don't do that! It'll start bleeding again! Here," she picked up the bag from the department store and instructed, "I bought these for you, put them on. Just be careful with the pants and don't mess up your leg."

"Don't these cost _money_?" Inuyasha asked, pulling out a pair of jeans and examining it curiously.

"So did the meat; go, put them on now," Kagome urged him.

Inuyasha sneered and took off his towel, forcing Kagome to put a hand to her eyes and yell, "Change in the _bathroom_!"

He grumbled and flung the bag over his shoulder and headed for the bathroom. He slammed the door and Kagome uncovered her eyes again. Honestly, didn't that boy have any shame? She shook her head sourly and went to the kitchen to put away the meat in the fridge.

Just as she was finishing up she spotted from the window a most familiar car parking in her driveway. Kagome cursed under her breath and went to the door before he could manage.

She swung the door open and greeted him with a contemptuous, "Hojou."

Hojou looked just as nervous as he had when he broke up with her, but relaxed considerably when he saw her face. "Kagome," he cried, a smile breaking across his lips, "You're alright!"

Kagome raised an eyebrow, "Why _wouldn't _I be alright, Hojou?"

"I heard about the second break in! I was so worried!" Hojou exclaimed, putting a hand on his heart, "I was even more worried when I called work and they said you were on sick-leave. I was afraid they had gotten to you and put you in the hospital or something!"

Kagome's eyes narrowed and she folded her arms, "Hojou…" she said evenly, "How did you find out about the second break in?"

Hojou suddenly looked apprehensive and guilty again, "Well… Eri told me…"

Kagome's eyes got even narrower, "How did she know about it?"

"Uh- Ayumi and Yuka told her?" Hojou sounded like he was guessing more than telling.

Kagome unfolded her arms and got into an offensive stance, "Hojou, the only people that should know about my break-in are Koharu and two police officers. I haven't told anybody else, so you must have found out somewhere else."

Hojou's eyes got wide, 'Kagome-?" he stuttered, "What are you suggesting?"

"I don't know what I'm suggesting, but I do know that you are hiding something from me, and doing a horrible job," Kagome snapped, "Now I know it couldn't have been you breaking in because you were with me at the dinner, and you don't seem the type. But there has to be a reason for why our house is being targeted like this, and I'm starting to think that you have a hunch why. So," Kagome finished up, "Want to tell me what it is?"

Hojou shook his head, "Kagome, I really-"

"Kagome, this shirt is too tight!"

Both froze and rotated around to see the bathroom door being swung open and Inuyasha taking off a small white T-shirt. He scowled at the article of clothing, and then spotted Hojou.

"Who is that?" Hojou managed to squeak out.

Inuyasha gave him a look, "Who am I? Who the hell are you?" he paused for a moment and then grinned, "Wait, I know who you are! You're the guy who stunk up Kagome's bed!"

Kagome slapped her hand over her eyes in embarrassment. Oh, this was going to be a fun conversation. Well… at least he didn't seem to notice the ears, the sod.

Hojou turned to face her and asked in a shocked little whisper, "Kagome?"

Kagome thought about saying 'It isn't what it looks like,' but decided against it, saying instead, "You know what? Forget it. Good bye, Hojou."

She tried the shut the door, but Hojou, most astonishingly, held his arm out and refused to be forced out. He cut in, sounding hurt and upset, "No! I can't believe you would do this, Kagome. We've only been broken up for three days and you already have another boyfriend?"

"What? Who's her boyfriend?" Inuyasha demanded from the background, but Hojou paid him no mind.

Kagome gasped at his gall and replied back heatedly, "How dare you say that to me! At least I got another boyfriend _after_ we split up!" Hojou flinched as she ranted, "And at least _he_ isn't your best friend since primary school, is he?!"

Hojou looked wounded, but still argued, "But he looks like such a _delinquent_. He doesn't look right for you, Kagome. You could do so much better."

"Hey, I'm right here!" Inuyasha called from behind, but to no avail.

"Oh, what, like you?!" she shouted before slamming the door and locking it.

"Kagome! Kagome, please open up!" Hojou implored from outside.

"Piss off!!" she yelled. Finally, after moments of silence, she heard Hojou's car start up and leave the driveway. She felt tears prick her eyes. Well, forget it, she wasn't crying over such a sod.

"So, am I your boyfriend now or something?" Inuyasha wondered dryly from behind her.

She jumped up, not expecting the silence to be broken so soon. She gave him a dirty look, "No. Hojou assumed and I wasn't going to break his little fantasy."

"Right," Inuyasha said with a dubious tone.

Kagome dismissed the subject, "So, your shirt…?"

"Yeah, it was really tight…" he whined.

"Well, I bought you five, what about the others?" Kagome asked.

"Didn't try them on, I smelt someone at the door and came to check it out," he explained, walking back to the bathroom to get the bag, "Little did I know it would be moron, himself."

"Yes, he took quite a liking to you, perhaps you ought to meet and have tea?" Kagome laughed.

Inuyasha bent down and picked a shirt at random from the bag, "Oh, how funny. I would never be able to sit still with a man that smelled so badly…" He pulled up a black shirt Kagome had gotten him and pulled it over his shoulders, "… it'd make me choke."

"Oh!" Kagome remembered something and dug around in one of her bags. She pulled out a little spray bottle and marched over to the bathroom to give it to him. She handed him the bottle and said, "Febreze. Spray it wherever you want to make the object smell spring time fresh. My gift, to you."

Inuyasha eyed the bottle warily and cautiously, aimed the bottle and let a squirt let fly in the air. He took a sniff and quickly retracted his nose. Kagome frowned, "I'm sorry, do you not like the smell?"

"The smell is fine," Inuyasha assured her, "It's just a little over powering. It'll definitely get rid of the moron smells… such as…" Inuyasha, fast as lightning gave Kagome three direct squirts from the chest, stomach and legs.

Kagome jumped up in the air and away from him, coughing, "What was that for?!!"

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose, "You've smelled terrible ever since you've gotten home! Did some bum try to hug you on your way home? His scent is all over the front of your body… and it stinks like you wouldn't believe."

Kagome gave him a strange look, "What on Earth are you-" Kagome remembered Kouga and in a flash, knew what he was talking about. All of a sudden, she agreed with him, feeling a little dirty.

"Alright," she ceded, "I'll go take a shower then…" Inuyasha gave her a confused look as she left the bathroom and headed upstairs. He followed her and asked, "Where are you going? Isn't the shower back down there?"

"We have more than one bathroom, you know…" Kagome pointed out, heading for said bathroom, "I only use the downstairs one usually when I want to soak in the bath. There is a perfectly normal shower up here as well."

She entered the bathroom, a little perturbed that Inuyasha was still following her. "Well, what am I supposed to do in the mean time? I get very bored being forced in this house."

Kagome thought of pointing out that no one was forcing him, but was too afraid he might just leave in that case and get himself lost. She couldn't quite pin point why she cared, but decided to merely pat his wrist instead and instructed, "Febreze to your hearts content," before shutting the bathroom door.

-,-

Kagome began rinsing out her shampoo and let out a little moan of contentment. The look on Hojou's face when he saw Inuyasha! Priceless! Serves him right. Where did he get off, anyway? It's already tacky enough to cheat on your girlfriend, but cheating on your girlfriend when you are off seeing _your elderly grandmother_?? Poor woman, she probably still thought that Hojou was dating her. Hojou had always been too afraid to own up to things, he might just continue his masquerade just so he wouldn't have to tell his grandmother that Eri was never her.

Hot water and suds ran off her body and she giggled. Inuyasha was getting cuter and cuter by the day. Even when he wasn't in dog form. Yeah, there were times she just wanted to kill him, but there was just this innocence about his behaviour that she thought was so precious.

Some suds ran into her eye, yanking her away from her thoughts. She closed them tight, blindly grabbing for the washcloth she kept hanging over the side of the shower. Her hand hit the frosted glass before finally finding its way to the washcloth. She wiped her eyes with it and blinked a couple times to check if she could feel any more. Content, she flung it back over the side of her shower and began conditioning.

Kagome wouldn't admit it out loud, but Inuyasha (even when he could talk) was growing on her. She was starting to believe she could really make this work. Yeah, it would be difficult come time he was more human than dog (was it while it was getting towards the Full Moon or the New?), but she could still make it work. If worse came to worse he could still be called her boyfriend…

Kagome blushed and waved away the idea. No, they couldn't say that! How awkward would that make things between them? Inuyasha would only be staying here for a little longer anyways now that his wound has healed, right?

Kagome felt a twinge of sadness shoot through her. He was going to leave soon, wasn't he? She actually didn't want that? She wanted him to stay… Part of it was that she didn't want to be alone, but part of it also was that he had made her get over Hojou so quickly. He was practically a little winged-doggy-guardian-

"Hey… Kagome?"

Kagome crouched down in the shower and cursed. Little fork-tailed-devil! 'Inuyasha, what did I say about women being peaked in on?!" she demanded, trying to cover up all that she didn't want him to see.

"Well, I can't technically see you… well," he mentioned, "The glass is all weird and then fogged up. You just look like a blur, so I figured I could be in here."

"Well, you figured wrong!" she scolded, still not feeling comfortable. She grumbled for a second or two and finally asked, "Why are you in here, anyway?"

"Well- I was just- just sort of wondering…" he trailed off. Was Inuyasha actually stuttering? She side-smiled. It was cute…

"What were you wondering, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked. She squint her eyes through the glass, seeing only a blob. The opaqueness of the glass being confirmed, she stood up and got in a more comfy position.

"I was wondering if I could just… stay for a while," he had started out loud, but his words loss courage as they left his mouth, making his last nearly impossible for Kagome to hear over the thundering of the shower.

Kagome thought she heard what he said, but… she must have heard him wrong. She asked, "I'm sorry, Inuyasha, what were those last few words?"

"Can I stay here for a little longer?!" Inuyasha forced out so stridently, Kagome almost lost her footing and slipped in the shower. She tried to look at him through the glass again, and even through it's translucence, she could see that he was beat red.

She giggled, feeling very giddy, "Of course Inuyasha. Stay as long as you like. I'd love you to stay!"

Inuyasha's confidence seemed to build as he said, "Great! Oh, by the way," he added, "I finished off your Free-bees stuff. Your house has been officially decontaminated."

Kagome double-took, "What? What do you mean it's gone? That bottle was huge!!"

"And there was a lot of moron smell, but it's gone now," he informed her merrily, "Bye, then."

Kagome watched the blob walk out the bathroom door. She stood perfectly still, afraid. What was she going to walk into when she exited the shower…?

-,-

Bunny: Oh, you are just my hero. You have no idea! I thanked you in the last chapter, but I'm going to thank you again, thank you, thank you, thank you!!! That was so embarrassing!!! Thank you for catching it before a lot of other readers could see it!

Beautiful.Black.Joy: …. I wish I understood that… lol. Anyway, I'm happy I… made you not be scared… in your attic-bedroom? I hope I'm getting this (or do I?)… Thank you for reviewing! Hearing from you is always interesting!

MusicLuva: Oh yes, they sell Twilight everywhere. They're by Stephanie Meyer, and quite easily classified as "Vampire Books". They're wicked good though!!! You can Google it, I think Stephanie Meyer has the first chapter available to be read on her site… Thank you for reviewing!!!

Priestessmykala: I just can't refuse writing a response for you… I hope you enjoyed this chapter! There are some American references in them still (Such as 9 to 5) but I hope it didn't bother you too much. Thank you for reviewing so faithfully!

Flames Chaos and Wolf: Hmm… I don't think I'm going to incorporate 'sit' in this fanfic, but we'll see how the fic rolls out. Who knows, I might change my mind and find some way to fit it in…

Oofie: That makes me so happy! I like making people laugh (even if my jokes are usually vague and bad), and to know I made you laugh that much is really a spirit lifter!! I frequently make one of my friends laugh with my jokes, but she laughs at the word "pudding" so I can't really trust her judgement… Thank you so much for your review!!

Purrdragon: I'd feel too guilty sticking you with the rest of the "general thanks" list, when you were the one who was with me since chapter 1. Thank you for the review!! But as you can see, Inuyasha isn't the type to just give up and sleep on the couch… :)

TeardropsOfAnAngel: I wish I could fit Sesshy in… but I'm not sure it's going to happen… We'll see though, I come up with new ideas of how to progress the story all the time, if one ever comes up with Sesshy he'll definitely make the cut. Thank you for your review!

Phoebe Holly: Yikes! Thank you! I didn't catch that for some reason… Thank you so much for pointing it out (I'm a little surprised that no one else did…). Thank you so much for reviewing my story to tell me… It would have stayed like that if not for you… thank you so much!

Shrimps of Mass Destruction: Have I ever mentioned that you have an awesome name… really great visual one can think up with that name… Anyway, I'm happy that you reviewed both of my chapters! That was really nice of you, and I'm very happy that you enjoyed the gag with Inuyasha waking up besides Kagome. I already wrote this in another response, but I love making people laugh, and I probably try harder than I should to do so. :) I hope to hear from you again!

Kagome1312: Yup, it's me. My way of writing is a little different in this story, so I wouldn't expect you to identify me by my writing alone… I'll try to get back to Yamaibara as soon as possible, but I'm afraid there is something in the next chapter that I'm having trouble with and I have to finish reading some books before school starts… ::Sigh::…. Thank you for reviewing!

OhBrother, Kagome's-Inuyasha's mate, JennyKim319, Yamayo69, Dark eyed demon girl, kumikonhan, person who loves Inuyasha, Miroku'sWife07, Yoli05, and Sessi: Thank you all for reviewing, and I'm so sorry these aren't individual thank yous, but there are just so many of you!!! Really, I'm greatly flattered that you reviewed and I do want to hear from you again! If any of you ever have any questions, that is a sure fire way to break free of this general thank you, I always answer those to the best of my ability… Anyway, I'm sorry, but I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and thank you for your overwhelming support!!!!!!!!


	6. Girl Talk

Not quite as many reviews as last time, but still a lot! I'm still going to need a general thanks list, mentioning all of my reviewer's names… Hmmm…

Chapter 6

Girl Talk

By Auroras-flame

Kagome sat at her desk at work, feeling positively awful. She tried to keep her head held high, but it became harder and harder to do so. Her face plunged into her desk. She had gotten barely any sleep at all last night. The smell of daffodils and spring roses has infiltrated her nose and they weren't coming out! Every so often the stench would get to her and she'd cough.

And that brat wasn't even affected by it! She thought he had some super sensitive nose- bah!!

Kagome wheezed as a fellow co-worker passed by her desk. He paused to look at her and exclaimed, "Oh, I suppose Yura was really lying then…"

Kagome, her head already in a foggy state of mind asked, "Hm…? What?"

The man looked surprised, "Hadn't you heard? Yura has been spreading all sorts of rumours about you and the new boss. When we discovered that you had been sick the whole day, she claimed it was a set up, the majority believed her, but seeing as you do look rather ghastly, I suppose she's been lying…"

Kagome remembered what happened yesterday, and feigned an appalled, hurt expression, "That's just awful!" she cried in an innocent, trill voice, "Why would she be doing such a thing to me?"

The co-worker gave her an empathetic shrug, "I don't know… just rotten people out in the world, I suppose."

"Thank you for telling me," Kagome gave him a weak smile that made him blush.

"No problem, Miss Kagome," he waved at her before setting off into the elevator.

Kagome's smile disappeared as soon as he was out of sight. What a mess… She'd feel eternally guilty if Yura overreacted to her blatant lies and got fired for it. After all, it was all that arse's fault…

"You're quite the actress, aren't you?"

Kagome cringed in her seat, and plastered on another fake smile to greet him, "Good day Sir."

Kouga gave her an approving glance from his doorway. He strolled over to her desk and leaned against it, "And that cough! That was acting gold right there. I even thought you were sick with something."

"No need to pass out the Oscar yet, Sir, that cough _was_ real," she said, putting some papers on her desk in order, "He sprayed Febreze all over my house and it makes me gag still."

"He?" Kouga gave her the eye, "Who's '_he_'?"

Kagome got very close to saying 'my dog,' but caught herself just in the nick of time. Still, that left her to wonder what she should call him…

Kouga must've taken her pondering as uncooperative silence because he questioned, "Your boyfriend?"

Kagome's immediate reaction was to assure him whole-heartedly that he was not. But thinking again, she figured saying yes would be for the best. Her ex thought he was her boyfriend, why not her flirty boss? If anything, it should stop him from being so flirty, and Inuyasha would never find out.

"Yes, that's right. Love the man. Good job, works out, treats me like a human being. We've been together since we were fifteen, and known each other since we were tots. Can't picture ever loving another," Kagome lied her head off.

Kouga's eyes narrowed calculatingly. Finally he let out a smirk, "So he isn't your boyfriend…?"

"Are you deaf? I just said he was," Kagome grumbled, opening her e-mails.

"Yes, but you're lying. You make it so obvious," Kouga walked around her desk and hovered closer to her, "Well, if he isn't your boyfriend, then my request still stands. Will you have dinner with me?"

"And my answer remains the same. No," she clicked her mouse, "Now leave before more rumours surface about us."

"Okay, okay. You're so stubborn," he chuckled. He walked back to his office, but stopped momentarily to say, "But just so you know: I _will_ get a yes from you eventually. I'll either charm it out of you or annoy it out of you."

Kagome sneered, "Just go back in your office."

Kouga gave one last snigger and went back in.

-,-

Kagome decided she needed to go out for lunch today. Nowhere special, just a diner of some sort. Anything really, just to get her out of the office. Never before had she been so ill at ease at her job. Kouga was making it just a living hell. People would walk past her desk and whisper about her, a few would even glower at her in disgust. It was horrible!

Kagome found a ramen house to eat that looked cheap and pulled into their parking lot. She locked up her car and walked inside. Kagome almost double-thought her choice considering the place looked even cheaper inside than it did outside. Not only that, but almost all of the occupants were old business men that leered at her before she even took two steps in the facility.

Just as he decided to turn around, a familiar body shape caught her eye. She looked sideways and approached the woman sitting at the bar. The woman turned around to see who was trying to see her face, with noodles still hanging gracelessly from her mouth and Kagome exclaimed, "Detective Sango!"

Sango's eyes broadened a bit and she inelegantly slurped up the rest of her noodles, "Ah! You're Miss Higurashi! Do you usually eat here?"

Kagome shook her head, attempting to keep it as merely a vigorous denial. Sango motioned to the seat next to her, "Sit down. It's nice to see a female face around here."

Kagome obliged, hopping up on the tall bar stool and staring expectantly at the burly, ramen chef across the way. He came over to her, placed chopsticks on her place, and asked gruffly, "What can I do you for?"

Kagome tried to give him a smile, but it sort of came out as a wince, as she scanned over the menu hanging on the wall, "Ummm… Traditional Japanese Ramen… please," she added hastily.

'Get me another one too, Kyokotsu!" Sango threw in.

The man nodded and yelled to another chef in the kitchen area. Kagome uncomfortably turned to Sango and asked, just to make small talk, "So, on your lunch break?"

Sango nodded, finishing off her huge bowl of ramen (and she wanted another one…?), "Yup. I think of it sort of as my twit break though…"

Kagome gave a sympathetic smile, "Do you not get along with your partner… Miroku?"

Sango grimaced, "Well, I do relatively. Ask anyone at the station and they'll tell you we're lovebirds, but in actuality, the majority of work related injuries he gets are from me…" Sango then looked at Kagome and blushed, 'Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Kagome chuckled, "Oh no, believe me, I know how impossible men are…"

Sango noticed the hint of malice in Kagome's voice and commented understandingly, "Oh yes, you had that bastard boyfriend."

Kagome laughed flatly, eyes firmly placed on the chopsticks in front of her, "Oh, you don't know the half of it…"

"Oh, what happened?" Sango questioned, perhaps a little too eagerly. She noticed this too and put in very quickly, "I mean- if you want to tell me."

Kagome grinned, "Yeah, I think talking about it would help. I'm sort of short on friends lately, as you might have guessed," Kagome hinted towards Eri to which Sango scorned. "Anyway," Kagome began, "Besides my cheating boyfriend- well, I'm a secretary, and I've just gotten this new boss who keeps hitting on me."

"If it's sexual harassment, you can sue him," Sango piped in, sounding all too enthusiastic, "I hate grabby men the most…" she seethed with what sounded was a personal back story.

Kagome appreciated the support, but shook her head, "No, I wouldn't call it sexual harassment, just trying really, really hard to get me on a date with him. There isn't anything illegal about it, it's just annoying."

Sango half-smiled, "Well, I could tell _you_ stories about sexual harassment. Miroku, he's a total perv." Kagome was a bit surprised by that, which must have pleased Sango because she continued, "What I told you about grabby men- he grabs my backside all the time! One time I actually threw him in the backseat of the police car and left him there for a night I was so angry…"

Kagome understood why Sango did it, but she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Miroku. "Well," Kagome said, ever the story topper, "My boss isn't the only other one. There's this guy, you see…"

Sango mimicked the expression Kouga gave her earlier, but with less of a hidden interest, "Guy?"

"Yup," Kagome went on, "He's possibly the most immodest, dense man on the planet. He'll go wandering about my house, half-naked, pretending there is nothing wrong with it even though I've only known him for four days."

Sango's scornful look couldn't hide her love for gossip, "Four days and he's already made himself at home?"

"Exactly, I didn't even think he'd be staying long…" Kagome shut up before she said anymore. She turned to gauge Sango's expression which was mixed with disdain and admiration, "Were you giving him a one-night-stand? I never pinned you as the type!"

"No, no, no. I've never slept with him!" Kagome yelped, twisting Sango's face into that of bewilderment. Before she had a chance to explain, Kyokotsu-ramen-chef guy came over and dropped off the big bowls.

Kagome wanted to eat quickly and get out of there before Sango could make even more assumptions, but Sango pressed on demanding, "What? But if you never slept with him, why is he at your house in the first place?"

Kagome felt her heart sinking, knowing she had to say what she had been saying all day, "We're dating, that's all. I just didn't expect him to hold out as long as he did. Good guy, though, really," she took a sip of her soup.

Sango accepted this answer and took her first bite of ramen saying, "Is that so? I better check him out next time your house gets broken into…"

Kagome gave her a serious stare which Sango waved off, laughing with her mouth half full, "I'm only joking. Oh, that's right!" she swallowed her noodles like a fish, "Did your dog ever come back?"

Kagome smiled and took a considerably smaller bite of her ramen, "Yuh-huh. He was back by the time I got home from getting that new security system."

"That's good, I felt bad," Sango admitted, "How does he like your new boyfriend then?"

"Oh, they get along," Kagome commented vaguely, taking another small bite.

-,-

Kagome arrived home feeling cheery and fine until she actually physically stepped into her house. The Febreze Inuyasha so liberally sprayed everywhere was still present and she nearly doubled-over on contact.

Inuyasha, human and dressed pranced over to her in greeting, "You took forever coming home today. I was waiting!" he complained, "Do you know how boring it is in this house?" He noticed her pale face and asked, 'Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no, I'm used to this much Febreze shoved up my nose. It's wonderful," she hacked.

Inuyasha cocked his head, "Yeah, I agree, it's a bit intense, but it smells better than that idiot…" He paused for a moment and looked at her curiously. He opened his mouth to say something but Kagome beat him to it, "Yeah, I know, I smell like my boss. He was _near_ me. I beat him with a stick, telling him my inmate doesn't like how he smells, but he's just so persistent."

Inuyasha clearly didn't appreciate her sarcasm, but said instead, "Well, yeah, but what I was curious about is that weird smelling food you reek of… It actually doesn't smell that bad…"

Kagome was shocked at this confession. Such high praise coming from Mr. Finicky himself. She held up a cheap bag in her hands and said, "It's ramen. They gave me a lot and I couldn't eat it all. Do you want to try it?"

Inuyasha took the bag from her and sniffed it warily as she acknowledged, "I know you weren't too fond of toast, but this has some meat in it, so you just might like it. Have you had noodles before?"

Inuyasha snapped, "Of course I've had noodles before."

Kagome reared back and mumbled lowly, "You didn't know what toast was…" She got the bag back and offered, "If you want to try some now, I could nuke it for you."

"You could what?" Inuyasha asked.

"Heat it up."

"Oh, sure."

Kagome went into the kitchen, retrieved the cupped ramen out of its bag, and poured it into a new bowl. Inuyasha had come up from behind her to watch in wonder. She placed it into the microwave and set it for thirty seconds, not wanting it to be too hot for Inuyasha's tongue.

She pointed to the countdown and explicated, "This is a microwave. When this counts down to zero, it'll beep and your food will be hot."

Inuyasha, for once now scoffing at the idea of her teaching him something nodded his head in understanding. Not soon after the timer went off. Kagome opened the microwave and handed him the bowl of ramen, warning, "Careful, it's hot. I'll get you some chopsticks."

Kagome went to her silverware door and got a pair of chopsticks of Inuyasha. She ushered him over to the table and placed the chopsticks before him, "I hope you like it," she said pleasantly before going back to the fridge to find something for herself to eat.

From the refrigerator, Kagome glanced to see if Inuyasha liked the ramen. However, he hadn't even picked up the chopsticks yet. He just watched it steam, as if he was deciding on whether it was poisoned or not, and was not sure if he wanted to try it.

Kagome pulled leftover salad out. Well, she shouldn't push it on him. If he didn't want to try it, then he shouldn't feel obligated to.

"It still looks too hot," he complained as she sat at the table with him.

"You could try blowing on it," she suggested, sprinkling salt over her salad, but then hurriedly added, "gently."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, offended, "Oh yeah, I'm going to blow on it so hard that it goes flying everywhere. Just because I didn't know what toast was doesn't mean I don't understand physics."

Kagome, always ready to fight back cooed in faux-amazement, "Oh look! He knows the word physics! Can you also say Potassium?"

Inuyasha snarled and vengefully took a bite of his ramen, much too hastily because he spat it back out in the bowl barking, "It's too hot!!!"

Kagome stood up and went over to help him, "Ohh… don't be such a baby," she scolded as she made a small stop at the freezer to get an ice cube, "Here," she said, placing the ice cube in the ramen bowl, "Wait for it to melt and by that time it'll cool down."

Inuyasha grouched and began to watch the ice cube with a pout, waiting for the time he could safely try the ramen. Kagome went to go sit back down again, but Inuyasha said something that distracted her, "People are here…"

Kagome headed for the window to try to see who it was, but before she could even touch the drape, the doorbell rang. She sighed and Inuyasha ran up to her, now all of a sudden in his dog form and his shirt stubbornly stuck over his body. Kagome bent down and took it off before going to the door.

Before opening it, she got on her tiptoes and peeked through the peephole. It was Yuka and Ayumi. She grinned, happy to see her friends and opened up, ready to greet them.

"Hi guys, how's it-," her friends' serious faces made the words halt and then just trickle off her mouth, "-going…?"

Ayumi asked, "May we come in, Kagome?"

Kagome nodded weakly, not understanding what this was all about. She led them into the living room and sat down on the couches. She looked between them and asked, 'Is something the matter?"

"Well," Ayumi murmured, fiddling around with her hands in her lap, "We heard about you and Hojou breaking up…"

"And we heard it from Hojou and Eri, when we should have heard it from you," Yuka cut in, tone unforgiving.

"But we are sympathetic to you, we understand why you're upset and we both agree that Hojou and Eri are in the wrong…" Ayumi continued.

"But we wonder why you didn't come to us first and ask for our comfort!" Yuka interrupted again, still sounding quite piqued.

Kagome took note of the clashing opinions and remarked, "So, are you here to comfort me or to reproach me, then?"

Both of the girls blushed and backed off. Kagome puffed up and declared defensively, "I was in a bit of a traumatized state, so forgive me if I wanted to be alone for a while."

The pair exchanged culpable looks until an abrupt barking interrupted the atmosphere. Inuyasha meandered to Kagome and gracefully hopped up beside her and sat, as if he wanted a say in the conversation.

Ayumi cooed, "Oh, Kagome, it's beautiful! When did you get a doggie?!"

"Yeah, when _did_ you get a dog?!" Yuka clenched her fists, "You don't tell us anything anymore!"

Inuyasha barked at her, making her squeak and shut up. Kagome gave him a thankful pat and told them, "I got him right after Hojou dumped me. His name is Inuyasha."

Her friends gave each other another glance and Ayumi tried to say as politely as possible, "Well, that's a nice name…"

"You named him _dog demon_? Ouch." Yuka commented a little more critically.

"It was the name a previous owner gave him," Kagome said, not really knowing what she was talking about.

Yuka leaned back and slouched on her seat, "Well, apart from scolding you, we were asked to come here by Hojou."

Kagome felt her eye twitch, "Really?"

Ayumi stepped up on his behalf, "He was really worried about you, Kagome. He said you got a boyfriend that looked like he was a part of the yakuza! He sent us here because he was afraid you wouldn't want to talk to him…"

"Well, he was right. I don't want to talk to him," Kagome announced, trying to keep off the subject of Inuyasha being her boyfriend, especially with him sitting right beside her, shooting her dirty looks.

"And what of your new boyfriend?" Yuka shot down Kagome's hopes, "Is he really such a punk?"

Inuyasha looked up at her, as if he was curious about what she would say too. Kagome was totally at a loss. She finally said, "He isn't my boyfriend. Hojou only assumed he was."

Yuka looked relieved, while Ayumi remained concerned, "Then who is he, Kagome?" she wondered.

"He's, uh-" Think quick, Kagome! "My mother's cousin's son's friend who needed a place to stay for a night before he left for a flight from Narita Airport, that's all," Kagome was turning out to be a natural liar, "I imagine it gave Hojou quite the shock when he just walked straight out without a shirt on. Poor sod," she laughed merrily.

Both of her friends seemed to accept this story, and both visibly relaxed. Kagome felt Inuyasha's stare from beside her, but refused to look at him, afraid of what his expression might be.

The rest of the talk that occurred was pleasant, just as Kagome preferred it. Yuka's words had lost their biting edge and had turned into her usual sharp-tongued humour and Ayumi remained her sweet, thoughtful self. Inuyasha never left her side throughout their stay, making her feel a little self conscious. Words that normally she never would have had a problem saying around her friends sounded crude and too easily judged. For the most part, Kagome did only listening that day, and accepted whatever they said, passively.

When they finally left, Kagome shut the door quietly behind them and sunk to the floor, exhausted. She loved her friends, but after telling such a large lie she felt she had to watch herself constantly to keep up the façade, and that was tiring within itself.

"Kagome…?"

She turned her head around and smiled at Inuyasha. Only just having changed back into a human, he only had time to get his boxers on. Somehow, she wasn't as embarrassed as she previously had been about seeing him practically naked. She just sort of got over it.

"Hey," Kagome sighed, facing the floor again, "Thanks for not pulling anything while they were here. It meant a lot."

"Kagome, do you want me to leave?" Kagome turned her head back, confused. "You had to lie to your friends about me," he continued, "and I've been sort of wasting your money to buy meat and clothes and stuff. Even I'm not so dense to see that I've been a burden. So I'll leave if you want me to."

Kagome felt her heart sink the way it did once Hojou told her he was cheating on her. Like it or not, throughout all the fighting and whining, she had grown attached the dog-man over the last couple days. But now was he thinking of leaving her? As if she didn't have enough abandonment issues?

"Are you not happy here?" Kagome asked softly, eyes drifting away from his. She didn't want to see it if that were true.

"No, I like it here," he assured her, "But you just looked so… I don't know… _depressed_, telling your friends that I was your cousin's-mother's-baby'-roommate or whatever."

Despite totally killing the moment, Kagome's spirits raised a little bit as Inuyasha went on, "I do want to stay… you feed me things I like, you don't treat me like a pet, and truthfully, you aren't half-bad for a human… but I'm not going to stay here if you have to lie to everyone you know just because of one incident…"

Kagome wanted to stand up and tell him straight out that she didn't care who she lied to, that she just wanted to have him around, and that if he liked it here, he should stay, but she couldn't bring it up to say that. She just barely met him, how would that seem?

Only faced with her silence, Inuyasha bent his head downward and smiled sadly, "Alright, I'll go. It was fun while it lasted…" He walked right past her and opened the door slightly. He changed back into a dog and scampered off.

Kagome raised a hand to stop him, but he was already gone. The cool, night breeze brushed against her face, and Kagome shivered. She was alone again… He left her… so suddenly… over something so _stupid_.

Kagome, not even bothering to get up off the floor, hugged her knees close to her, allowing the freezing air to enter her home. She didn't understand why she was so sad about this, and why it hit her so quickly. She barely knew him, and it wasn't like they were like how she and Hojou were. Maybe it was just the fact that she had no backups now… Just like how those sandals snapped the day she first saw him, Inuyasha crapped out on her. She was entirely alone now.

Kagome felt a tear fall from her cheek. Super, now she was really pathetic.

Pathetic and alone.

-,-

::Dodges coffee mugs and chairs that are thrown in her direction:: Whoa, whoa!! No worries, he's coming back, really. It's an Inu/Kag fic so it would be quite odd if he didn't… Anyway, let's do some responses!!

Flames Chaos and Wolf: Hmmmm…. Considering it… XD

Priestessmykala: Aww, thank you! Yes, I should hope most of the references are at least somewhat British because I am originally from the UK. I live in California now, though, and I've, for the most part, picked up the American way of spelling things, but I decided with this fic to go all out British. Hence the fondness for "u" (honour, neighbour) and using British slang. I can't wait to hear from you again!

Purrdragon: Yes, Kagome has suffered. You know, surprisingly, I don't mind Febreze that much, but I can't imagine being forced to just breathe it in. -.-;;; Just sounds horrible… Thanks for the review!

Tsukari0504: Ah! This is strange! I found your story "Two Worlds" on someone's favourite's list and was reading it, but when I paused to see if I had anymore reviews, your name was up! I like your story and once I finish it, I'll be sure to review, I swear! (I'm a notoriously bad reviewer, mind). Thank you for your amusing, detailed review, and I hope to hear from you again!

Whitehitsugaya: When I first glanced at your review, I caught the word 'hate' and freaked out that I let someone down. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. Thank you for reading, even though it isn't completed! I'll try to keep up with everyone's standards:)

Bunny: Awww, you're just my hero! Thank you again, and I'm happy you reviewed!

Beautiful.Black.Joy: Oh, believe me, I'm not deterred in anyway by your weirdness. My best friend is the weirdest person I have ever met, in America or the UK. Yes, Hojou's a prat. If your hate for him outweighs your hate for Kouga, you'll love the next chapter…

Kylexi: Thank you! I'll try to correct that right away… Oh yes, I tried very hard to make Inuyasha seem that way, I'm happy that someone noticed! Thank you for the compliment, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter and aren't to angry with me for having Inuyasha run away. -.-;;;;

Shrimps of Mass Destruction: Yes, I have this habit of making nouns into verbs… It's a sickness… Thank you for reviewing!

MusicLuva: Actually, I DO have an idea where the story is going (this is surprising). I'm not sure if I can offer any solid advice, but if you have a plot that you want to make, I'd first consider what characters are going to be the main ones, what characters are you not including in the fic (are you sure you don't want to include them?), and what are all their roles going to be. I always picture how a certain character would act, and usually identify them either with someone I know or myself, and have them act like that person would. That's only if you're having trouble with detail in the characters, as for in the plot itself, I can't really offer any good advice except that details and additional scenes should only be added if they either come up later in the plot and define a character, or significantly helps the plot along. My other story, Yamaibara, is a good example of what NOT to do, particularly in the beginning, when I would have some sub plots with absolutely no purpose. They were funny (sometimes) but pointless, and that's annoying. WOW, this is long. I hope that I helped you (I'm sorry if you couldn't understand me)… Thanks for asking for my help, it's really flattering. I hope to hear from you again.

Miroku'swife07, Kumikonhan, JennyKim319, Yamayo69, srg1, lady KCassandra, and OhBrother: thank you again for your reviews! They do mean a lot. Here, a spoiler for you that the other reviewers or readers might not bother to read: the next chapter is called The Date, who is the date between? I'm going to let you guess, but I hope you enjoy it!! I hope to hear from all of you again!!


	7. The Date

Chapter 7

The Date

By Auroras-flame

Kagome watched her screen saver roll by on her computer, bored and miserable. It had been over a week since Inuyasha left. Nothing of great import really happened… Kouga was still hitting on her, totally oblivious to her sudden change of mood, Yuka and Ayumi met with her a couple times, trying to convince her to see Eri again, to which she refused whole heartedly, and her house had never felt more lonely and barren to her… It was just awful.

Since Inuyasha's departure, she had taken up having lunch at the ramen house with Sango. She was a fun woman… a little inelegant, which was funny, because she was so beautiful, but was good company and fun to rant with. Sango had most graciously offered to put a warrant on her "ex boyfriend" and throw him in jail if they ever found him, but Kagome told her it wasn't necessary, knowing that even if they did see Inuyasha, he would most likely be in dog form.

Kagome closed her eyes and listened to the hypnotic tapping of her fingers on her desk. Everyday after he left she would arrive home, hoping to find him barely clad, sitting in her kitchen, eating sausage or something. Obviously, he was never there. After a week, she had just about given up all hope…

He wasn't going to come back, was he?

"Hel. Lo. Ka. Go. Me!" entered Kouga with a sing-song voice, destroying Kagome's foul mood. He crouched by her desk and smiled, "Guess what I'm going to ask right now?"

Could this man be any more annoying?

"Have any e-mails from the Shichinintai Corporation involving our trade gotten in yet?" Kagome ventured, holding up a piece of paper.

Kouga cooed at the sight and yanked it out of her hands, before coughing and getting back to the unwanted conversation, "Uh- No. Kagome, will you go out to dinner with me tonight?"

"Yes."

Kouga blinked, "Really?"

"No."

"What's holding you back, Kagome? Why won't you have a friendly dinner with me?" Kouga pouted.

"What's holding me back? Well let me think," Kagome threw up her hand and began listing off reasons with her fingers, "Company protocol, suspicious situations, the fact you are annoying, the fact I'm having difficulty trusting men at the moment, the fact I don't want people whispering more than they already are…" Kagome brought up her other hand, "My mother always told me not to date people I just met, and common sense!" Kagome held up the seven fingers, "There! Seven reasons off the top of my head why I'm holding back."

Kouga looked at the fingers shoved in his face with resentment, "Well… I bet you couldn't think up _ten_ reasons…"

Kagome face planted into her desk. She just wasn't going to win this… She might as well should have been reasoning with a wall. What this man lacked in cleverness he made up for stubbornness.

She gave in, "Fine, okay. Will you stop pestering me if I give you one date?"

Kouga grinned madly and corrected her, "_Friendly get together_."

"Sure," Kagome grumbled.

"Where would you like to go," he asked, radiating like sunshine.

"I don't care, just choose a place…"

"How about that bay restaurant… Tokyo Banquet-"

"Anywhere, but there!" Kagome cut in sharply before Kouga could finish. She explained, "My boyfriend just dumped me there over a week and a half ago, I'd rather not go back."

Kouga didn't comment about her ex, just named another restaurant, "Well, then how about Sushiland?"

Kagome fought hard so she wouldn't laugh at the ridiculous name, "Where is that?" she managed out.

"A couple blocks away from Tokyo BanquetSea. I could pick you up at your house if you like. In fact, I will do that," Kouga decided, not even asking if Kagome _wanted_ to be picked up.

Kagome recognized that there was no way to deny him so she merely took out a piece of paper and began scribbling down her address. Kouga glanced at what she was doing and said, "Oh, you don't have to do that. Your address is on file, I can just look-"

Kagome finished it up and forced it into his hand, "Don't look at my file!"

Kouga shrugged and walked back to his office with a goofy look on his face.

Kagome stopped him, "What time?"

"Huh- oh, how about seven?" he asked, snapping out of his daze.

"Whatever…" Kagome returned to work as Kouga shut the door.

-,-

Kagome stood in front of her closet, looking over her set of cute clothes. Choosing for this date was harder than one might think. She didn't want to give him the wrong impression so she didn't want to look too nice, but at the same time she didn't want to look like a slob because that would be rude and just an embarrassment to herself.

She finally picked out a nice, blue dress shirt and black thy-length skirt. She was very careful not to choose any shoes that said (in the words of Yuka) "Fuck me" on them. Just a pair of very minimally high heeled slip-ons… nothing provocative about them.

By the time she put on her makeup (yet again, minimal), her doorbell rang and she gathered her things to meet Kouga at the door.

Almost too stereotypically, Kouga was leaning against the doorframe when she opened up to see him. It was like he had predicted the dressiness of her clothes and planned accordingly, for he did not look over or underdressed beside her.

"Hey, Kagome," he greeted her smoothly.

Kagome slipped her purse over her shoulder and walked past him to exit, "Hey, Kouga."

He ran to catch up to her, and Kagome only figured out all too soon why he wanted to pick her up so badly. In her driveway, there was a spanking new, silver Porsche with tinted windows. Kagome was willing to bet there was leather seating inside too. She refused to let herself look impressed.

Kouga gloated, "I just bought her, she's a beaut, isn't she?"

Kagome was never much of a car person, but one only needed eyes to see that this car was indeed glamorous. She shrugged and let herself in (there was leather seating!) and mentioned blandly, "You can buy anything with money."

Kouga winced and went around to the driver's side, "Ouch. That was a bit harsh…"

Kagome realized she was being mean and apologized, "You're right, I'm sorry. I've just been in a bad mood for the last week."

Kouga chuckled and started up the car, "Hope it wasn't all me…"

"No," Kagome admitted truthfully, "Just partly…"

Kouga laughed and started up the car, "Yet again: Ouch."

Kagome smiled and Kouga gaped, "Hey! She can smile!"

Kagome frowned immediately and Kouga mumbled, "And then it's gone in a flash…"

The car began to move and they were off to Sushiland. The first half of the carried was relatively silent. Kagome couldn't help but feel the quiet was of her doing. She acknowledged that she had been pretty much nothing but mean to Kouga, and that might deter him from trying to talk to her. Go figure, she tries everything to shut him up and leave her alone when he was asking her out everyday, and now that she was out with him, he didn't say a word. She just didn't understand men…

All of a sudden, Kouga asked, "Kagome, do you believe in signs?"

Kagome gripped her leather seat, and remarked critically, "Kouga, I hope you're talking about traffic signs, because I really don't want to hear anything cheesy right now…"

"No, I'm serious," Kouga told her, "My father has been bugging me lately about not having a girlfriend and then I abruptly get transferred to Totosai's building and I meet you."

"What does that have anything to do with signs?" Kagome asked.

"That morning, my horoscope said that I would meet the woman of my dreams," Kouga stated with a sly smile.

Kagome twisted her head around towards him, "What? Is that actually why you kept on pestering me? Because of your _horoscope_?"

"Well, the fact that you're pretty and spirited might also have something to do with it," Kouga added, making Kagome blush from the compliment, "You're so tightly wound," he went on, "You don't take bull from anyone, and you act almost as if you resent the whole world…"

"So in short, I'm a mean-spirited witch who is about to crack," Kagome summed up, folding her arms.

"No," he protested, "You're interesting. I've never seen anyone like you."

Kagome sighed, "Not knowing me isn't the best reason for dating me…"

"Ah-" Kouga said with a smirk, "I thought we agreed this would be a dinner between friends…"

"Hm," Kagome grunted dismissively, dropping the subject. Kouga was quiet for a while and she stared out the window. They were driving by the ocean now, passing by miles of sandy beaches. It was sunset, so the ocean possessed a pinkish-orange-ish colour that would dance upon the ripples for a moment before turning back to a grey-green.

Kagome grimaced as they passed Tokyo BanquetSea. Kouga said that this Sushiland was only a couple blocks away, so they should likely be arriving soon. And sure enough, Kouga pulled into a parking lot with a sign that had "Sushiland parking ONLY" written on it.

Kagome stepped out of the car and looked around. She had passed this area a few times and thought nothing of it, really. The restaurant itself was on a small wharf, overlooking the beach. Two little 'whoots' resounded as Kouga locked his car. He got next to her and said, "Shall we go?"

Kagome nodded and walked with him warily. She wasn't afraid to be seen with him; unless he began talking he wasn't humiliating in the least. She felt this cautiousness for another reason, one she couldn't exactly pinpoint. She felt like something bad was going to happen.

Kagome shook her head, rejecting the thought. Kouga had stuck all these ideas of signs and fate in her head that she was beginning to have premonitions.

They walked into the restaurant and he told the matridee, "Kouga, for two."

The matridee picked up two menus and said, "This way, Sir," seating them immediately.

Kagome had to admit, as she walked through the restaurant, that Sushiland actually had a pretty nice atmosphere… It wasn't as romantic as Tokyo BanquetSea (which she was eternally thankful of), but everything was neat and tidy, it wasn't very loud like some restaurants were, and it, just like Tokyo BanquetSea, used its location by replacing one wall with a giant glass window that one could see the ocean from.

They were seated and handed their menus. Kouga picked up his and began reading it immediately, but Kagome was still entranced by the sea, watching the waves crash on shore, and then drift out, only to crash and wash up again.

"Kagome…?" Kouga called her back to reality.

Kagome blinked and turned her attention back to him, "Oh, sorry, yes, Kouga?"

Kouga motioned to the waiter who was standing beside her and just out of her periphery, "Do you want anything to drink?"

Kagome gasped, and blushed, "Oh, I'm sorry, just water. Thank you."

The waiter bowed and left. Kouga smiled sympathetically, "Tired?"

Kagome put her hand to her forehead, "A little bit…" she focused up on him, but something else caught her eye, right behind him.

Her muscles tensed and her lips formed a hard, straight line. Only a few tables away sat Hojou and Eri, just being seated. Neither looked terribly happy, almost as if they were bothered by something, but they both managed to smile at the matridee as he left.

Kouga frowned and waved his hand in front of her face, "Kagome, are you okay?"

Kagome snapped out of her stare and cursed under her breath. She ducked her head low and held up her menu, shielding her from Hojou and Eri, but also inadvertently cutting off Kouga as well.

Kouga stood up and tried to see her over the menu and asked, a little louder than she wanted him to, "Kagome? What's wrong?"

Kagome hushed him, "Sit down!"

He did so and Kagome removed the menu and whispered, "My ex is sitting a couple tables behind you with his new girlfriend, and I don't want him to notice me."

"Your ex? Where?" Kouga wondered, turning his head to look, totally oblivious to Kagome's desire to remain inconspicuous.

"Kouga, turn back around!" she slapped his hand from across the table.

Kouga turned back to her and asked with a hint of disgust in his voice, "You dated a _bald_ guy?"

Kagome stared at him in disbelief, and noted how a bald man possibly in his forties was having dinner with a young lady. She got offended and hissed, "Not the bald one! The young guy with the girl who's my age with short hair!"

"Oh," he turned back around to check it out. Kagome tensed as she noticed that they were starting to get attention from the other patrons. She kicked Kouga from under the table and snarled, "If you have to see them, can't you do it without being noticed?!"

But it was too late. Eri looked about to see what had captured the interest of all the other people in the restaurant and spotted Kagome. She gasped, tugging Hojou's sleeve and pointed her out. Kagome groaned and finally rose, "It's over. I'm leaving."

She walked straight to the door, strolling right past Hojou and Eri, refusing to make eye contact with them. She heard Kouga's pleas to wait up for him, but she wasn't slowing down. This sucked. This sucked so much…!

Kouga finally caught up with her when she was outside. She didn't even make it to the car before hearing Hojou's voice yelling from the diner, "Kagome! Wait!"

She didn't turn around. Kouga did, briefly, but Kagome growled in a threatening voice, "Kouga, don't you dare stop walking. I'm warning you…"

Kouga turned back to her, and Kagome was surprised to find his face looked rather strained. Kagome didn't let it bother her though. She would do anything if it would avoid another confrontation with Hojou.

"Wait, Kagome! What's going on?! Who are you with?!" he demanded, voice still from faraway.

Kouga stopped in his tracks and Kagome heard him murmured, "Forget this," before marching off towards Hojou.

Kagome pivoted around and shouted, "Kouga! Don't!!" She ran over to try to stop the inevitable jealousy fight. But Kouga was already right in front of Hojou.

Hojou halted and asked, sounding confused and angry, "Who are-?"

The moment Kouga was close enough, he delivered a right hook that sent Hojou flying across the pavement. Kagome froze in horror and Eri screamed, having just come out of the restaurant.

Hojou sat up and stared at Kouga in shock, holding his bruised jaw tenderly. Kouga walked over to him and crouched down. Hojou winced, expecting another punch, but Kouga lifted him slightly by his shirt and spoke directly to his face, "Do you have _ANY_ idea how long I had to wait until she finally said yes to go on a date with me? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA?!!" he shook him.

Eri stood like a statue and Kagome was speechless. She had suspected some yelling and shoving, but nothing like that!!

"I waited fucking TEN DAYS!!! I asked her every single day and she said no, but today, she said yes, but we had to run out of the bleeding restaurant because YOUR cheating ass was making her uncomfortable!!! TEN DAYS!!!" he reiterated, giving Hojou and hard shake with each syllable, "I'd give up on Utada Hikaru after four!" He punched Hojou in the face again.

Eri screamed again and Kagome finally began to intervene. She ran up to Kouga and pried him off of Hojou telling him, "That's enough!! You're beating him black and blue!!!" she turned to a cowering Eri and shouted, "You! Stop snivelling and help him!!"

Eri flinched, but rushed over to Hojou compliantly. She lifted up his head and he moaned in pain.

Kagome grabbed Kouga's arm hard and dragged him off to the car. Kouga looked positively livid, and more than ready to hop back in and continue thrashing Hojou. Kagome kept her hold firm and finally got him to the car. She asked seriously, "Should I drive?"

Kouga gave her an appalled look, "No! It's my car!" "Fine," was Kagome immediate answer as she climbed into the passenger's seat. "Get in," she ordered.

With a grumble, he obeyed. He started her up and he began to drive Kagome home.

As soon as they were driving, she buried her face in her hands. This was horrible! She just took part in the merciless beating of a (more or less) innocent man! What would happen to Kouga? Would Hojou call the police? Would he sue? Kouga could probably pay any sum Hojou could demand from court, but no amount of money was going to get him out of ten years in jail…

And what would happen to her? She was the cause of this, ultimately. Hojou could just as easily sue her and she would have to begin living in poverty!

Kagome cringed. Why didn't she do something sooner? She didn't hold herself responsible for the first smack, but if she had just reacted properly and wasn't standing around like an idiot, watching Kouga go on and on, she could have done something to protect Hojou from another walloping.

Kagome was so frightened when Kouga stopped and strode over to Hojou, but she never imagined he would pull anything like this! And Hojou! What must he have been thinking when Kouga just walked straight over to him and without a single word socked him down to the ground…

Kagome stopped fretting and pictured it for a moment. Hojou, desperately trying to stop her, even after all he's done and Kouga finally gets fed up with him, and before he can even say "who are you?" _whacks_ him into the ground.

Kagome smiled, wickedly amused by the notion. The more she thought about it, the funnier it became. It started as giggling, her face still in her hands. Kouga undoubtedly heard her, but wasn't saying anything. Her giggles soon turned into wails of laughter, her hands finally falling from her face to grasp her sides.

Kouga began chuckling too, and quickly joined her in laughing. They laughed for so long and so hard that after a time, Kagome was worried that Kouga's might impair his driving. However, she was laughing too hard to care.

The hilarity eventually died, and Kouga asked, sounding slightly guilty, "I hope this means I haven't totally ruined my chances with you, Kagome."

Actually, it kind of had, but she didn't want to sound mean so she said, "We'll see, Kouga. Maybe we'll try again one day when you can control your temper," she began sniggering again, the memory still making her grin.

Kouga returned her smile weakly, but then squinted his eyes at something on the road, muttering aloud, "What's that…?"

She blinked and looked out on the road and saw red and yellow road blockers, right in front of her block. Her head tilted to the side, "That's strange…"

"Those weren't here when we left," Kouga mentioned, stopping his car right in front of them, "Is the road being repaved or something?"

"No," Kagome said certainly, "There haven't been any signs at all… Perhaps something has happened at one of the neighbour's houses…"

"I don't see any police cars though, or ambulances," Kouga said, looking farther down the road, "Who on Earth pitched these up?"

Kagome sighed and opened up her car door. As she got out, Kouga leaned over and asked, 'Hey, where are you going?"

"Home," Kagome stated simply, "It's just right over there, I can walk."

"Do you want me to park the car and walk you there?" he offered sounding hopeful.

She smiled and shook her head, "No, it's okay. Thanks for trying to take me to dinner…"

Kouga frowned, "I'm sorry that I punched out your ex…"

Kagome tittered, "No, thank you for that. I would have done it myself if I wasn't so afraid of being sued." Kouga cringed and Kagome waved to him, shutting the car door, "Believe me Kouga, it wasn't the worst date I've been on," she told him, remembering said date, "You still have a chance."

Kouga beamed optimistically and said, "Thanks. See you tomorrow morning, then?"

"At eight o' clock sharp," she nodded. She stepped away from the car and he drove off. She watched him go, feeling that he might be a little less annoying from now on.

But then again, this was Kouga we're talking about.

She started down her block, looking for signs that might hint to why the roadblocks were there. By the time she was at Koharu's house, she still could spot no reasons for their existence. She shrugged it off, deciding that it wasn't important.

She retrieved her keys from her purse and began to walk up her driveway to her front door. She froze on spot when she saw that it was open.

They were here again…

She jogged over to the side of her house, careful to stay out of view from anyone who could be looking through a window or the open door. She crouched down below the eaves of her garage and reached for her cell phone to check it. There were no new messages… Why hadn't her alarm system gone off, and called to inform her?

Kagome grumbled and figured that since she had the phone in hand…

She dialled 1-1-

"Don't push another button…"

Kagome jumped and looked beside her, only to see the bad end of a gun pointed at her head, and the mocking smirk of bright-red lipstick "… or you'll regret it."

-,-

(A/N::Screams and dodges bullets:: Okay! I get it!! You don't appreciate the cliff hangers!!!

::Dodges another few her way:: And you hate me for not having Inuyasha come back immediately…

::Avoids a few more:: Oh, now what's your problem????

::Gets shot at again, and finally collapses to her knees:: ALRIGHT!!! I admit it! I like Kouga!!!!!

::Receives weird stares from the readers:: NOT LIKE THAT! I like the character of Kouga! I love his idiotic persistence and the role he undoubtedly plays in the stories!!! I don't care if it's cliché, I love nothing more than a good, clearly outweighed love triangle!!!! So sue me if I glorified Kouga a bit::Holds up Kouga plushie victoriously:: He is my love triangle GOD!!!

::Kouga plushie gets a couple shots to the head and Aurora screams:: Well, that's just not nice!!!! A/N End)

PurrDragon: Aww, perhaps… Sorry for not bringing him back in this chapter, he'll be in the next though, I swear. Thanks for the review!

MusicLuva: That's good to hear. I'll be sure to look out for it! You asking for help was much more flattering than you know, not a burden in the least (I get words stuck in my head all the time too, sometimes even whole phrases!!) I hope you didn't totally hate this chapter because Inuyasha wasn't in it (I'm sort of worried about my other readers…)

Oofie: Okay, your review just made me laugh. I'm possibly the biggest fan of the clichéd "NOOOOOO!!!!!" (I nearly peed my pants at the last Star Wars movie…) I also loved the concept of Inuyasha being in a lab coat! XD Maybe not… Inuyasha will come back in the next chapter, I swear. :)

Kumikonhan: I can no longer keep you in the general thanks section. You've become such a dedicated reviewer, I couldn't bring myself to do it anymore! Thank you so much for your reviews! They do mean a lot to me!

Beautiful.Black.Joy: Uhhhh… ::Brings up shield in preparation for objects about to be thrown her way for A) not having Inuyasha in this chapter at all and B) Ending with another cliff hanger:: Well, at least I update quickly, right?

Sessi: Yeah, and he's still not back yet… I'll update as soon as I can, just please wait for it! Thank you for reviewing! It's always good to hear from you!

Yamayo69: For reviewing multiple times, I take you out of the general thanks group! Thank you for reviewing so often! I'm very happy that you like my story enough to dedicate a portion of your time to review, thank you!

Priestessmykala::Cringes:: I wouldn't suppose that Kagome with a gun to her head would be a slightly more bearable cliffy, would it? …. I suppose not…. Thank you for reviewing!!

JennyKim319: Now you know. I hope it was sort of entertaining at least… I was afraid I made her friends a little too mean… But I guess I just really want them to be replaced by Sango. ::Shrugs:: What can I say? I like Sango better. Thank you for reviewing all these times and I hope to hear from you again!

Flames Chaos and Wolf::Strokes chin thoughtfully:: Hmmm… that might require me boosting the rating though… It would be fun to guess Inuyasha's reaction though (Unless he did it on purpose) O.O;;;

Bunny: Addicted to? Wow. Thank you! I hope I keep up to your expectations! I hope to hear from you more later, and thanks for the review:)

Lady KCassandra: Nrg… hmm… sorry…? Inuyasha's not back yet, but he will be next chapter, and he'll pop in really early, I promise! T.T Thank you for reviewing!

Kylexi: O.O Sorry about the date being with Kouga, but I sort of shuddered when you said you hoped it would be with the dogcatcher, (even if it was to find Inuyasha) because I meant him to be Mukotsu, the fat poison guy from the band of Seven and he's so creepy!!! O.o I know _I'd_ never get within a close distance of him if I didn't absolutely have to (although Inuyasha might be worth it…). ((-.-)) I hope to hear from you again!

OhBrother: Nope, no Yura, but yes, a date with Kouga. He didn't exactly corner her though… I find Kouga to be more of the annoying persistent type than the threatening, black mailing type. Or, at least he is in this fic. Thanks for reviewing!!!

Shadow thief wolf, Doghanyou3693, and Icyattitude: Thank you all for reviewing my humble fiction! It was very nice of you to take time to write them out, and I do hope to hear from each of you again. I'll try to keep each of you happy with my fic, and thank you.


	8. Reunion

Wow! I'm only one review away from having 100!!!! Hooray!! Thank you to everybody who has reviewed, and I'm sorry this chapter was slightly more delayed then the rest. It's because school just started and I have a lot of AP and college classes and they're a lot of work… I'll still try to update semi-frequently though, but maybe it'll slow down to once a week (I gave up my AP English [Don't even think about the irony so I have a significantly lessened load than I would have if I _had_ taken AP English, so part of the reason I can update as quickly as I do is part of that…)

Chapter 8

Reunion

By Auroras-flame

Kagome was trapped. There was a small gate leading to her backyard a couple metres away from her and the shooter, but in such a narrow passageway and from such a short distance it wouldn't be difficult for her to be shot before she even touched the gate.

The woman wore a black business jacket with matching skirt, managing to look very professional while still holding a gun to Kagome's head. She had a pale, heart-shaped face and cool, cocky eyes. Her hair was up in a high bun and adorned with little trinkets like feathers and hair pins. She also wore elaborate earrings that hung down to her neck.

"Who- who are you?" Kagome stammered, watching the gun closely.

The woman put her free hand on her hip, "What good will it do you to know? All you should know is that you're about to die in cold blood if we don't get what we want…"

Before Kagome could ask, the gate from the backyard opened up revealing a tall, silver haired man in a business suit and cough mask and a little girl, dressed in a white sundress, despite it being well past sundown. The little girl stared down at Kagome with dead eyes before glancing up at the woman, "Kagura… what is this?"

Kagura bit the side of her lip and spat, "The girl who lives here."

The little girl showed no reaction, "I know who she is. Why is she here?"

"How am I supposed to know, Kanna?!" she snapped, "She only left thirty minutes ago! How was I to guess that she would be back so soon?!"

"It's your job," the little girl stated with absolutely no inflections.

Kagome was beginning to calm down a little bit. Kagura seemed to have become less focused on pointing the gun at her head. Even now it had lowered a bit and it would only hit her foot…

The man who had not talked at all throughout the conversation suddenly looked down at Kanna. She watched him for a moment or two and said, "Juromaru thinks we should use her…"

Kagura smiled, satisfied, and re-aiming her gun back at Kagome's head (Crap), "I was just thinking the same thing…"

"Who are you people…?" Kagome asked frantically as Juromaru and Kagura began closing in on her.

"The bad guys," Kagura grinned impishly before rearing her gun back, ready to knock her out with the blunt end.

Kagome clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the blow to occur until a gust of wind blew by her, coupled with Kagura's anguished yell. Kagome's eyes flew open to see Inuyasha, snarling and snapping a Kagura's neck. She flung around enough to get him off, but the thrashing also disarmed her. The gun went spinning by, landing past Kagome by only a rod away.

Kagome scrambled to retrieve it, but Kagura noticed her and shouted, "Get her!!"

She felt a hard yanking at her ankle and turned back to see Juromaru holding it in a death grip. He tightened the grip and twisted, making Kagome yell in pain. All of a sudden, he released, and Kagome didn't even bother to see why, she just went for the gun.

It entered her grasp, and she finally swung around and pointed it at the group. Juromaru was currently occupied with Inuyasha to notice, but Kagura looked slightly worried. Kanna however, remained emotionless and murmured, "Fool. The gun can only kill if you squeeze the trigger. Someone who has no will to kill cannot do this." With Kanna's words, Kagura grinned, "The little girl is too goody-two-shoes to do someone in, huh?"

Kagome glowered and aimed the gun into the air and let the bullets fly until there were no more left. Kanna's facial features finally twitched into slight frustration as Kagura cursed, "Crap. Now the whole neighbourhood is going to come investigating…"

"Scatter," Kanna whispered, just before she vanished herself. Kagome blinked, assuming she just saw an illusion. Kagura snarled, "You'll see us again," before hopping the fence over to Koharu's yard and then going who knows where else. Juromaru was writhing to get away, but Inuyasha seemed to have a hold of him. Juromaru delivered a swift kick into the nose, which forced Inuyasha to let go with a yelp.

Injured and agitated, he jumped onto the fence Kagura hopped over seconds ago and then hopped onto Kagome's roof, moving silently across it before disappearing.

Kagome, who still had the gun held up in the air, loosened her grasp on it. It fell from her hands and landed with a 'chink' on the ground. She faced Inuyasha, her eyes filling up with tears. He came back… He saved her…

His nose was bloody, but he still managed to look as elegant as he ever did. His amber orbs met hers for a second, before lowering and turning around to walk off.

Kagome, now in a panic threw herself from her knees at the dog, crashing into him with a hug. He remained still and Kagome felt the tears run down her face. She held him tighter and sobbed into his fur. Through her tears, she mumbled, "You came back…"

Inuyasha remained as a statue and Kagome buried herself deeper into his fur, "I thought you were never coming back…" she gave a hic, "I never wanted you to leave. Don't leave me again…" she looked back up at his eyes. They were calm, but sad looking. Kagome sniffed.

"Kagome? Kagome! What was all that noise about! It sounded like gunshots!" she heard Koharu call to her after spotting her from the driveway.

Kagome turned away from Inuyasha's fur to yell back, "It was! Wait a moment, I'm coming!"

Kagome tried to stand up, but the place where she was squeezed by Juromaru couldn't handle her weight and buckled. She squeaked and Inuyasha hurried to her side and offered her support. Kagome, even though she was still crying, managed to smile. She put most of her weight on him, and limped out onto her driveway. Quite a crowd had gathered to meet her, almost all already dressed in their nightwear.

"What happened Kagome? You look retched!" Kaede, her other next door neighbour exclaimed, running over to replace Inuyasha. Kagome shouted to the general public, "Has anyone called 1-1-0? I've been attacked!"

Gasps of surprise and scandal began to spring from the mouths of the block, but none admitted to calling the police. She felt someone nudge her knee and looked down to see Inuyasha holding up her dejected cell phone in his mouth, looking almost as annoyed as she did.

She got it from him and stared down at the screen. Oh look, the number was already half-way punched in for her! She dialled the zero and reached a semi-familiar voice, "1-1-0 emergency hotline. What is your emergency?"

"131-9Adako, break in," Kagome stated, not even seeing the point of saying her name.

There was a pause from the other side of the line and the woman cried suddenly, "Goodness! Not you again!"

Kagome shrugged (not that the operator could see) and said, "Yup."

"Some police are coming over now…"

"Thanks, bye," Kagome hung up the phone. She hoped it wasn't Sango who came… she'd freak out…

Kaede waved away the spectators, "Go on now! It's being handled! Just go back to your houses!!" She looked at Kagome, "We should get you inside and see what the damage is to your ankle. I used to be a nurse, so maybe I can help until the police arrive…. Oh, Koharu, you come too, I need a young pair of legs!"

Koharu, who was already walking back to her house stopped, and grinned, happy to be of service. She hopped over and Kaede instructed, "Help her get inside and on a couch or something like it. We'll continue on from there…"

Kagome used Koharu for support as she limped into her home with Kaede following behind her. For a moment of doubt she whimpered, "Wait- where's Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha barked, to show he was there. Kagome smiled, relieved. That was good…

Koharu laid Kagome out on the couch with her injured ankle hanging over the side. Kaede dragged a spare chair over and sat down beside her. Inuyasha sat down on the ground by her head. She reached an arm down and put her hand on his back, just so she would know he was still there. Kaede began by asking, "Koharu, can you get me some ice...?"

"No ice," Kagome said.

Kaede gave her a strange look, "You don't keep ice in your house?"

Kagome scoffed, "I do keep ice in my house. I just hate being touched with something so cold…"

Kaede rolled her eyes and instructed to Koharu yet again, "Could you get me some ice?"

"Hey!"

"Your ankle has already swollen," Kaede informed her, "Ice could make it go down. I was a nurse, so just lie down, do as I say, and don't question my authority."

Kagome lay down on the couch, still as stone. Wow, Kaede sort of sounded like her… It made her cringe to think of Kaede, the stout old bird, in a cutesy nurse costume. Gag. However, she did seem to know what she was doing.

She felt some spasms in Inuyasha, and looked over the couch to see what he was doing. He had lifted a paw over his snout at was sniggering!! What was worse was his bleeding had already stopped too. All Juromaru did was grip her ankle and she was getting all of this attention, Juromaru kicked him in the shnoz and he was feeling great! She pinched him hard, and the sniggering was replaced with a grumble. Annoying little dog…

Koharu returned with the ice and Kaede ordered, "Foot up!" and after Kagome complied, began rubbing it on her ankle. Kagome winced, hating the chill and Kaede asked, "Where do you keep your first aid kit?"

"Well, it isn't much of a first aid kit, but I do have a few supplies in my medicine cabinet in the bathroom right over there," Kagome waved Koharu over to her first floor bathroom. She quickly added as Koharu was in there, "Oh! My medicine cabinet is behind the mirror."

"What?! The hanging one?"

Kagome saw Kaede give an exasperated look that mimicked her own, "No, not the hanging one! The one that looks like it might have a drawer behind it!" Kagome told her.

"Oh… right then, here we go!" Koharu came out with some anti-bacterium, Neosporin, and Band-aids. Kaede stood up and exclaimed, "Oh, _really_! Her ankle is strained, not cut, girl!!! How are we going to help her strained ankle with _Neosporin_?!!"

Koharu halted and looked down at her things, "Oh, woops," before pivoting around and heading back for the bathroom. Kaede called in after her, "Get me some elastic bandages and an icepack from the freezer…" Kaede glanced at Kagome, "You have those, right?"

Kagome nodded and Koharu shortly came back with what Kaede required. Kaede instructed Koharu to replace the ice cube with the icepack and she began wrapping up her leg, starting with her knee.

"Umm… my knee is fine…" Kagome told her.

Kaede hushed her, and then asked, "How did this happen?"

"Well, this guy grabbed onto my ankle when I was reaching for the gun…" Kagome explained.

"Gun? So that _was_ a gunshot?!" Koharu squealed with excitement.

Kaede paused from her wrappings, shot Koharu a glare and said, "Yes, continue."

"His grip was rather hard, and then he twisted my ankle," Kagome summed up.

Kaede focused on Kagome's leg, "It's as I thought. A sprain."

"Well, that's not too bad," Koharu mentioned optimistically, "Could be worse. Could be broken."

"Actually, fractures of the bones can actually be less painful and take less time to heal than a sprain. Some major sprains can have you feeling pain for a year…" Kaede retorted pessimistically.

Kagome gulped, "Is this a major sprain?"

Kaede blinked, "Oh heavens no. I'd be surprised if it was moderate. No, you can walk on it immediately after injury (albeit, with some help). If you care for it well enough, the pain will have entirely gone away after two weeks, maybe less."

Kagome managed out a hopeful smile before a tapping on the front door resonated.

Koharu was the one who got up and answered the door. She greeted the officers and Kagome could already hear Sango's agitated voice from the front door, "I can't believe this happened again! What happened to the alarm system we talked about?" She forced her way into the house and gasped when she saw Kagome and her bandaged foot.

Kagome waved a hand in greeting and smiled weakly, "Hiya, Sango."

"Oh my god! What happened?!" Sango ran to her side, and almost stepped on Inuyasha. Kagome tilted her head, "Well, I didn't exactly mention this to the operator, but I sort of ran into the intruders… Oh, that's right!" Kagome glanced at Miroku who had just entered, "Could you remove the empty gun from the side of my house. I don't really like having it just sit there…"

"_GUN_??!!!" both the officers echoed.

Miroku was already gone but Sango waited to hear the story. Kagome gave a very vague telling of it, and once she was done, Sango immediately twat her over the head.

"Ouch!" "What were you thinking, getting closer to the house?!" Sango demanded, "You should have run away and then called the police!!"

Kagome winced. She was right. Sango tackled her with a hug, "Good grief, Kagome, you could have seriously gotten hurt!" Kagome comforted her friend by awkwardly patting her on the back. This was the sort of relationship she wanted with her friends, not the type that Yuka and Ayumi offered. They were both perfectly good people, but their differences in the definition of friendship had left her dry.

"Well, _hello_!" Miroku exclaimed from the door. Sango shot away from Kagome and Miroku glanced between them, suspiciously, "Have you two been meeting outside of our little cases, perhaps? You two look awfully close…"

"Oh, yes, we eat lunch together every workday," Kagome told him, much too speedily because only after she said it did she see Sango's waving her hands 'no' madly.

Miroku looked shocked and turned to Sango, "But I thought you said you didn't eat lunch! You said you went on power walks to build endurance during lunch break, and that was why you couldn't eat with me!"

Sango sighed and Kagome winced. Oh dear, that wasn't meant to be said… Sango tried to patch things up, "Oh, come on Miroku, I just need some time to myself sometimes so I don't get stressed out and explode."

Miroku pointed an accusatory finger at Kagome and whined, "But she's with you!"

"Well, she doesn't grab my ass every time my back is turned," Sango spat, now entirely oblivious to the others in the room.

"It's just a love squeeze!" Miroku cooed in his defence.

"Love squeeze, my ass!"

"Well, if you insist…"

"Um!" Kagome cut in, "The gun? The bad guys?"

Both of the detectives froze, and then cleared their throats in embarrassment. "Right," Miroku said, reeling his hands away from the general vicinity of Sango's rear end, "There was no gun."

Kagome stared at him, "What do you mean there's no gun? I fired off those shots in the air and then left the gun alone. It should still be there!"

"I'm not doubting your word, Miss Higurashi, I'm just saying that there is no gun there any longer…" Miroku told her.

"Do you think they came back and got it?" Sango asked.

"Most likely. It would be bound to have their finger prints all over it," Miroku concluded, "which means that their finger prints, whoever they are, might be on file, but they don't want us to know who they are."

"I- I know their names," Kagome offered from the couch.

Sango faced her with a concerned expression, "You do?"

"The woman who held the gun at my head was named Kagura, the man who twisted my ankle was named Juromaru, and the little girl was named Kanna," Kagome said.

"Yes, about that," Sango said, "Little girl? Are you saying that there was an accomplice to these break-ins who was a small child?"

Kagome nodded her head, "Yes. It was almost like she had authority over the other two, as well. Most peculiar."

Miroku and Sango exchanged glances, "Very well, we'll look into it…"

"Oh!" Sango interrupted, putting her hands on her hips, "Why didn't you install that security system you said you bought! You wouldn't be propped up on the couch right now if you had just done what I asked!"

Kagome's pursed her lips, indignantly "I did install it, look, it's right over-" Kagome finally saw the security system she stuck on her ceiling. It was smashed, like a baseball bat had swung up at it and knocked out everything. Sango followed her gaze and cringed at the sight, "Oh my…"

Miroku watched it too, "Miss Higurashi…" he said slowly, "…you might want to consider getting some protection…"

Inuyasha barked suddenly, making the entire party jump up in fright. Miroku and Sango looked down below them to see the so far, much ignored Inuyasha. Sango pointed animatedly and said, "Dog! He's here!"

"Well, hello, poochie!" Miroku bent down to rub his head, but Inuyasha snapped at him. Miroku reared his hand back and winced, "Or, maybe not…"

Kagome smiled and nodded, still clasping onto Inuyasha's pelt, "Yes, he came back and rescued me…"

"Aww, how heart-warming. Maybe you should build a statue of him and put him on your lawn!" Miroku suggested merrily.

Sango glared at her partner, "Honestly, Miroku! Do you have to say every daft, tacky thing that comes into your head?!"

Kagome giggled and stroked Inuyasha's head, happy to have him back.

-,-

Everyone had left and Inuyasha emerged from the bathroom, fully clothed. Kagome smiled and tried to stand up. He hurried over to her and forced her back down on the couch, "Don't. The hag said you need to keep your foot elevated."

Kagome hugged him from her spot and whispered, "I'm so glad that you're back… I missed you so much."

Inuyasha allowed her to hug him, but when she finally released him, he looked rather guilty. Kagome tilted her head, "What's wrong?"

"I wasn't here and you ended up getting hurt," Inuyasha said, "I feel bad."

"Don't," Kagome beamed, "You came back before it was too late. That's all that matters… I do wish I knew what they were talking about, though… I wonder what it is they are looking for…"

Inuyasha shrugged, "I don't know, but they're more dangerous than I thought they were," Inuyasha mentioned, catching her attention, "The little girl… she isn't normal, neither are the others for that matter, but the little girl specifically worries me. I couldn't even smell her…"

Kagome lowered her head in thought. It was obvious now that these break-ins weren't random. They were planned, and with motive. They all said that they were trying to find something… something within the house… but what could it possibly be? She didn't have anything that anyone else wouldn't have. Why was she being targeted like this?

"Kagome," Inuyasha said.

She focused in on him, "Yes?"

"Did you really mean what you said back there? About you wanting me to stay?" he asked, his eyes concentrating on hers.

Kagome watched his eyes, straight back, "Every word. I never wanted you to leave in the first place. Don't you know that? I don't care about spending money on you, I like doing it, and I'd rather lie to every person in the world than have you leave me again. Stay with me," she pleaded softly.

Inuyasha leaned against the couch and stared up at her with a relieved smile, "It's good to know."

"Will you stay, then?" Kagome questioned, heart hopeful.

"Yeah, until you get sick of me," he chuckled darkly.

Kagome frowned, "I won't get sick of you…"

"Yeah you will, everyone does," he yawned.

Kagome stared at him and mulled that statement over. Did this mean that she wasn't Inuyasha's first owner? There had been others? She felt a twinge of jealousy at the thought, but decided to ignore it. It really shouldn't bother her, he was with her now, not them.

"I'm tired," she murmured as she propped her self up. It was nearly midnight.

Inuyasha forced her back down and then scooped her up in his arms, "Don't walk. I'll carry you."

Kagome turned crimson as she was lifted into the air and pressed up to Inuyasha's chest. Rather than pull away, she cuddled in a little closer, inhaling his scent. He smelled nice, which was surprising; like dew on fallen leaves. Maybe it was just the detergent she used on his shirts though; who knew?

He brought her upstairs and to her bedroom. She was still blushing like crazy, it was practically like he was laying her down on their wedding bed or something. She mentally slapped herself. Inuyasha was most certainly not thinking that. She needed to get it together…

Her eyelids drooped as Inuyasha lifted her leg so he could stuff some pillows under it, trying to keep it above her heart. Kagome groaned, just at the verge of sleep, "Wait, I need to take off these clothes- I mean, I need to change into my night things… I still have makeup on my face, I'll break out. I haven't brushed my teeth either…"

Inuyasha threw the covers from his side of the bed over her, wrapping her in a linen taco. He hushed her, "Stop whining and sleep."

She didn't hear him, she had already passed out.

-,-

Okay, I'm going to try to pump out the next chapter like crazy because I just _love_ it. I hope you're all happy that Inuyasha is back, and staying… and without further ado, here are some replies!

Tsukari0504: Oh geez, I SWEAR that I'll review your fic, ASAP, but I'm already taking up too much time writing up responses to reviews and I have to read 65 pages of The American Pageant for my AP US History class (FYI It's a textbook… so we're talking _really_ slow read) Sorry, Kikyou isn't the robber! But I'm sort of happy someone thought that, because I wanted to leave the option open for people to wonder about. Yes, I loved the date too… I even laughed while writing it. I love Kouga (as a character) but just _really_ hate Hojou (another reason I love your fic…). Thank you for reviewing, and I will get to reviewing your story, I swear!!!

JennyKim319: I'm sorry I didn't update as quickly as I normally do… School and all… I'm really happy that so many people accepted Kouga into their hearts because he punched out Hojou. I wanted there to at least be a _hint_ of a love triangle in this fic and I see no way there could be one without Kouga being at least a _little_ bit likable. Ah! You must be a Kingdom hearts fan (I don't think Utada is connected to the anime/gamer's world in any other way) Yay!

Beautiful.Black.Joy: I'm so sorry I haven't updated as frequently as I normally do. But really it's been only, what? Five days, maybe six? I know a lot of other authors do much worse, right? … Right? Anywho, I'm sorry you can only be on the computer in your parent's room… I get testy if they come in to collect my trash and I'm on the computer…

Kylexi: Yes, I know… bad author ::slaps own wrist:: but this isn't a cliff hanger this time! Yes! Another I have converted to accept Kouga (sort of)! Let our hate for Hojou unite us!! Thanks for reviewing…

OhBrother: Yay! Someone else who is sympathetic to Kouga! I agree, too often Kouga is portrayed as a player or a moron or a jerk (although the last two could sort of be argued in some cases…) Most of that is because in the anime they introduced Ayame who was supposed to be married to him (I'm sure you know) so he looked sort of like he was cheating on her with Kagome or something… like he was two-timing her. However, Ayame never existed in the manga (which is usually where I get all of my characters and their personalities from… usually) and I think she was sort of added just to make Kouga look bad (because he was totally devoted to Kagome ::cough:: andallofhiswolfmanpack ::cough:: while Inuyasha on the other hand would ditch Kagome in a heartbeat to go chase around Kikyou… oh boy, I'm rambling, sorry! Thanks for the review!

Kumikonhan: Your welcome, have another response! Well, as for the time it takes me to write a chapter… this time was a lot slower than usual because school was starting and I have having a tough time writing this bit for a later chapter… usually, if I have enough time, it takes me about five hours to write ten Microsoft pages (the typical length of each chapter) depending of course whether I am having fun writing the chapter and if it is a crucial bit I need to phrase very carefully (editing for me takes another ten to twenty minutes…). It might be better if I wrote a little more slowly, since my work seems to become a little sloppier if I don't watch myself. Thanks for the review!

Shrimps of Mass Destruction: Yes!! He is!! I agree totally! I'm sorry I didn't update immediately… but here it is, six days later. I hope you liked it!

MusicLuva: Wah! I feel so bad because I haven't been updating as frequently as I had been in the summer and everybody was so happy about that! School sucks… How is your fic going? Have you published it yet? Thanks for reviewing!

Sessi: Yes, I'm sorry… no cliff hanger this time though! Yay…?!! Thanks or the review!

Yamayo69: You must be a Kingdom Hearts fan (I've never known anybody who loved Utada Hikaru who wasn't… in America or the UK at least…). Yes, the thieves are rather persistent, aren't they? I hope you have become a little more aware of their purpose in this chapter… but I still haven't finished up with them (obviously…)

Oofie: Yes, Hojou needed to be hurt… some way and in some form… and this was it! Yay! Another person who likes Kouga! So (as you obviously know), I reviewed your fic (both chapters) I still think that a change in summary might boost your hits count (thereby boosting the chances people will review), but it's all up to you. It _is_ good, but I don't think pirate fics were ever popular as Inuyasha fanfiction (at least when I was a novice to fanfiction…) I recall even Rozefire 's Pirate fanfiction wasn't as embraced as her others… (If you've never read any of Rozefire, I demand that you search for it under author's name immediately because she was a fanfiction prodigy a few years ago.) Anyway, good luck with the fic and I hope to hear from you again!

Priestessmykala: I know, I feel even guiltier because I haven't been updating as speedily as I normally do… school… bleh.

Kagome1312: Yes, let the guilt rain down and the poor little author!! She hasn't updated in six days and she left her story at a cliff hanger!! Just kidding : ) I do feel guilty though… Everyone really loved the fact that I updated so quickly… Oh well, at least I updated within the week! Thanks for reviewing!

LadyKCassandra: Yes, yes they are persistent. I _will_ get into that… eventually…

Flames Chaos and Wolf: ……….. ……………… …. OH!!! I get it! You have multiple personalities!!!!! (Uhhh… right….?) Thanks for reviewing! I'm going to fit in that legs being kicked out from under Inuyasha _somewhere_ in this fic…

TheHanyouPrincess, JELLYandBAGELS, icyattitude, Doghanyou3693, DemonicPrincess24, Shatter x Mirror, unknown p / random person: Thank you all for reviewing! Actually, I really wanted to reply to most of your reviews, but nearly two pages are just out of replies alone and I don't want to make the chapter over-deceptively long! Thank you so much, and for those who have reviewed before, I'll definitely write you a personal reply if you review again! Thank you so much!


	9. These Violet Eyes

My original title for this was **The Visit from Hell**, and you'll discover why I called it that very, very soon, but I changed it for a more important part at the end. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 9

These Violet Eyes

By Auroras-flame

Kagome clicked the SEND button, and her e-mail disappeared from view. She was taking the day off today, on the account that she couldn't move anywhere and Inuyasha was practically hog tying her to the bed or the couch in an attempt to keep her foot elevated.

Kagome admitted it: she liked the attention. But the fact that he was just here made her much happier. She placed her laptop on the coffee table beside her and mulled over what Kouga would make of her message. She hoped he wouldn't get over anxious about her.

Kagome sighed and faced Inuyasha, who was watching her from the other couch. She grimaced and held out her hand, "Can you get me the phone, Inuyasha?"

He got up and speedily ran up to her room and then back down again. He gave it to her, tentatively, saying, "You don't have to do it, you know."

Kagome clenched her teeth and began dialling in the number, "Yes, I do. If I don't they'll throw a tantrum."

Inuyasha shrugged and returned to his couch, "Whatever, your friends."

The phone rang from the other line and a gentle, "Hello?" answered it.

"Ayumi," Kagome greeted, purposely calling the less hostile of her two friends first, "It's me, Kagome."

Ayumi cooed, "Oh, it's wonderful hearing from you, Kagome! Yuka is here now," she added.

"Good, I want her to know, too," said Kagome, happy she wouldn't have to talk to Yuka directly this way.

Ayumi paused and asked worriedly, "Hm? Is something wrong, Kagome? Did something happen?"

"As a matter of fact, something did happen," Kagome readied herself, "There was another break-in at my house and I ran into them and they attacked me."

Shocked silence was all that responded to her from the other line. Finally Ayumi squeaked, "What?"

"I was attacked," Kagome repeated, "A gun was held at my head and my ankle got sprained. I'm stuck in my house for a while and I thought you should know…"

"Oh my goodness!" Ayumi cried. Suddenly, Yuka's voice cut in from the background, "What? What happened to Kagome?!"

"She's been attacked and she can't move!" Ayumi told them, panicked and exaggerating.

"Oh my god!" Wait- was that Eri's voice?

"Is she in the hospital?!" she heard Hojou demand. NOW just wait one second!!!

"Ayumi, is that Hojou?" Kagome asked.

Ayumi squeaked. She answered slowly, "No…"

"Oh my gosh, it is!" Kagome exclaimed, "And Eri too!" They were seeing each other behind her back?? Well, then again, she had a dog demon living in her house so maybe she wasn't the best one to complain about secrets…

"Kagome!" Yuka's voice came out crystal clear (she must have yanked the phone out of Ayumi's hands), "We're coming over right now. All of us!"

"What? Wait! Don't!" But it was too late; Yuka had hung up the phone. Kagome stared at her phone and groaned. A melodic tune erupted from her laptop, and she saw a new message in her inbox, and it was from Kouga… She winced and clicked it open.

**I'm coming over right now.**

Kagome closed the window and put her hands over her face murmuring, "Why me? Why now?"

"What is it?" Inuyasha asked her, standing up and coming over to her.

"Everyone is coming over… Yuka and Ayumi… Eri… Hojou… My boss…"

"Your _boss_?" Inuyasha asked, "The one that made your clothes reek that day you gave me the Free-bees?"

"The same," Kagome let out a chuckle, "What's better is that just yesterday he punched the snot out of Hojou in a parking lot… and now they're coming!" she laughed pathetically at the whole situation, "And I can't even _run away_…"

"I could carry you," Inuyasha offered, smirking a bit, "But I'd rather see how this turns out… And _why_ did your boss punch out the moronic wonder?"

"Because he ruined our date," Kagome said without thinking.

Inuyasha's smirk left him, "Date?"

Whoops. Kagome painfully nodded, "He had been asking me out every day since his second day at my office," she told him, "Just yesterday, I said yes and he took me to a restaurant. However, I saw Hojou there with Eri and he saw me…" she exhaled slowly, "I left the restaurant with Kouga, but Hojou followed me and Kouga just got ticked, and gave him a right hook."

Inuyasha was less interested in the fight now, "He's been asking you out since he arrived?"

"Yesss…" Kagome eyed him, "You wouldn't be _angry_ about that, would you?"

Inuyasha flushed and turned his head away from hers, "Who's angry? Not my business who you decide to date and flirt with!"

Kagome scoffed, "I was _never_ flirting with Kouga!"

"What, you're on a first name basis, now? He's no longer "the boss"?" Inuyasha snapped.

"I only said yes to have him stop harassing me, and besides," Kagome quieted down a bit and stared down at her hands, "I had given up hope that you were ever coming back…"

Inuyasha gave her a guilty look. He swivelled his head around and turned back into a dog. He forced the clothes off his dog body and grabbed them all in his mouth before climbing upstairs to put them away.

As he was up there, Kagome heard a car swerve into the driveway, and the furious opening and shutting of doors. Kagome grabbed a couch pillow and hid her face. Here came the Calvary…

Yuka was the first in, and ran straight up to the couch, with Ayumi and Hojou following her like ducklings. Eri quietly walked in and was wary of getting too close to Kagome.

"Kagome! What on Earth happened?! Tell us every detail, and don't you dare leave anything out!" Yuka ordered as she made herself comfortable on the couch. Ayumi followed suit and kept a hand over her mouth, "My goodness, Kagome! Does it hurt? Do you need any water or anything?"

"Kagome! I'm so sorry, Kagome!" Hojou crashed by her side and grabbed her hands, forcing her into an awkward position.

Kagome took her hands back from him and gave him a look, "Why?"

"Uh… because you're hurt…" Hojou answered back strangely.

Kagome finally noticed his face and said, "Oh my… Kouga really did you in, didn't he?" Hojou's right cheek was blue and purple from his eye to his lip. There was a twin bruise right above his left temple as well. The areas around it were red and puffy.

A fast car screeched to a stop right outside her house.

And here came the arse that made those marks….

The entire party watched as Kouga came running in the open door, "Kagome!!" she called to her, just before halting in front of the rather large group.

Eri peeped and took several steps back from Kouga and Hojou stared at him, wide-eyed and afraid (as he really should be). Ayumi was confused, but Yuka seemed to catch on, "You! You're the one that beat up Hojou!"

Kouga glanced at Eri, then Hojou, and then finally Yuka and smirked, "I see you've heard of me."

Kagome really wished she could just get up and leave. What the heck was Kouga doing…? And where was Inuyasha…?

Kouga spotted Kagome and walked straight up to her, pushing Hojou to the side, "Kagome, are you hurt?"

"No, these bandages are just my way of making a statement," Kagome told him joyfully before glaring, "Why did you come?!"

"Because you were hurt and I felt it was my fault that you were," Kouga replied, "If I just insisted more, if I just didn't take no for an answer and walked you home, maybe you wouldn't have your foot all wrapped up now."

Kagome spared him a fake smile, "Aww, that's so sweet. Please leave. You can have no idea how awkward this is for me…"

"Kagome, don't be like that! This is serious!" Kouga told her.

"So is she."

Kagome's felt her muscles get taut. Everyone else was looking around for who just said that. But Kagome knew. Kagome knew too well…

Inuyasha slowly descended the stairs, dressed in the same outfit he had just taken off and run upstairs to put away. He came down a step further and Kagome gasped. He looked almost human! His hair was black, his ears were gone and his eyes were now violet. Kagome did spot however that his fangs were still present and his claws were still… claws…

Inuyasha jumped from the second step down to the ground floor and shot a heated glare at Kouga, "Why don't you just leave?"

"Who the hell are you?" Kouga growled, rising from his spot by Kagome.

"Yes, who are you? And why did you just come from upstairs?" Hojou banded in, just as suspiciously curious as Kouga.

"Me?" he strode over and hovered over Kagome in a protective position above her couch, "What do I look like, you morons? I'm her boyfriend!"

Every jaw in the room (save Inuyasha's) dropped to the floor. It was nearly ten seconds before anybody got the courage to speak, and it was Hojou, "I remember you!" he identified suddenly, "You're the one from before! But you died you hair black!"

The three girls' gapes doubled with that information, while Kouga just looked puzzled and Kagome felt like she needed a drink…

"Got a problem with that, idiot?" Inuyasha snorted, "At least I didn't get my ass handed to me by a little prissy, rich boy!"

"Say that again, punk!" Kouga roared, lunging for Inuyasha over Kagome. She screamed as Inuyasha and Kouga tussled above her. Inuyasha knocked away Kouga's hand which flew and hit Kagome in the knee. Her hurt leg went flying off the couch and landed on the wood floor.

She screeched loudly and all came to a silent stand-still.

All three boys asked simultaneously while running to Kagome's leg, "Are you alright?!"

Hojou tried to lift the foot up again, but Kagome jerked it away from him and placed it back on the couch's armrest, herself. The three stared at her helplessly as Kagome clenched down on her sofa, trying to squeeze all the anger out of her.

It was too late for that now, though. She cracked.

"Kagome…" Kouga called to her cautiously.

"Get out…" she mumbled next to inaudibly.

"What did you say?" Hojou asked.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!" she screamed, causing everyone in the room to flinch, even Inuyasha, "ALL OF YOU; GET OUT!!!!"

"Kagome!" Yuka exclaimed, not believing how ferocious she was being.

"YOU TOO, EVERYONE!!! JUST GET OUT!!!!!"

Ayumi and Eri the only ones with sense seemed to get the message that Kagome wanted to be left alone. Ayumi made sure to drag Yuka along, even though she looked as if she wanted to join in the fight. All three tiptoed out of the house quietly as Kagome continued her tirade.

"YOU MEN ARE UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Do you even _really_ care, what happens to me?" she demanded to Kouga and Hojou. She pointed her finger at Hojou, "_You_ dump me, and yet throw a fit every time you see me with a new guy and _you_," she pointed to Kouga, "need to take a hint! When I say you need to go, you _go_!!!"

Inuyasha awaited the scolding he was going to get, but Kagome ignored him. She _would_ scold him, but later. Now, all her attention would be focused on getting these men out of her house!!!!

"But Kagome…!" Kouga tried to say.

"No, Kouga! If you ever really cared about me you would believe me and listen to me when I speak! When I say no, I mean it! When I say go, you better go!!"

"Kagome…" Hojou pleaded.

"And you-" she spat, "You don't even have the _right_ to speak to me. You DUMPED me, Hojou. And you didn't even do it _nicely_. We are through, go bother someone else!!!"

Hojou reared back, his face looking shattered and (of course) bruised. He turned around and silently left the house, leaving only Kouga for Kagome to deal with.

Kagome cooled down a bit and just wiped her hand on her face, "Kouga. Please just leave…"

"Kagome… is he really your boyfriend…?" Kouga sounded very hurt. Kagome looked up at him and his expression matched his voice. Pity and guilt stabbed her heart and she relaxed her face. She glanced up at Inuyasha, who was watching her calculatingly, wondering what she was going to say as well.

Kagome wished she knew… She turned back to Kouga's dejected eyes and said, "Yes. He's my boyfriend…"

Kouga hung his head, "I see…" he meandered to the door, but paused at the frame. He said, without turning around, "Kagome…?"

She furrowed her eyebrows together and clenched her shirt, still feeling she was at wrong, "Yes, Kouga?"

He spun his head, and a wolfish grin spread across his features, "I don't care. I'm still going to go after you!"

Kagome gawked at him slack-jawed.

He waved to her merrily, "See ya at work on Monday!!" and shut the door behind him.

They both just sort of froze, in dead silence for a while. Kouga was certainly a character… Kagome would give him that.

"He needs to be admitted," Inuyasha declared, breaking the quiet.

At the interruption, Kagome twisted her head around and hissed, "_You_!"

Inuyasha took a step back from her fierce face. Kagome began to yell again, "What on Earth were you thinking, coming down here like that?!"

"'Oh look, Kagome's in trouble, I better help her out'?" Inuyasha sneered back in defence.

"Help? You call that _help_?!! That was the entire opposite of help!! It wasn't even on the same spectrum!!!" she smacked the couch, "Get over here! I need to slap you!"

Inuyasha shook his head and got further away from her, "Nuh-uh! I was only trying to help!"

"Then why didn't you just change into a dog and bite him, then?! Instead you pretended to be my boyfriend and threw things into utter chaos!!" Kagome fitted, "I thought _you_ were the one who had troubles with me lying! Why did you pull a stunt like that?!"

"It's the day before the New Moon," he told her, as if that explained it all.

Kagome stopped. She remembered him saying that he lost control over how frequently he changed during the Full and New Moons… Was the New Moon the time when he had trouble changing into a dog?

"As soon as I got up there to put my clothes away," he continued, "I turned back into my human form; and even more human than normal…"

"I noticed," Kagome commented curtly, "Does that also have to do with the New Moon?"

"Yes. On the day of the New Moon I won't be able to change into a dog at all, and look fully human," he held up his clawed hands for visual appeal, "The day after, I'll return to looking like this, and the day after that I'll look like myself again, but still might not be able to stay in my dog state for too long…"

And he just told everyone she knew that he was her boyfriend…

And he'd undoubtedly decide to sleep in her bed…

And he entirely controlled her mobility, so she wouldn't be able to chase after him or away from him or anything…

Crap. Just crap.

"Kagome, have you grown tired of me?" he asked her solemnly.

Kagome stared at him and shook her head violently, "No! Of course not! I told you, I will never grow tired of you…"

Inuyasha gave a snort of cynical laughter that made her frown, "Who ever told you to go away because they were sick of you? That's awful!" she said, remembering the comment Inuyasha made last night.

Inuyasha lowered his head, "The last person I stayed with did… and the person before that… and before that…"

Kagome had a stricken face, "What? Why would they do that, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha shrugged, "They just got sick of me. They couldn't bear to keep secrets from the ones they loved, so they rejected me, that's all. You will too, eventually," he added, "You have a lot of friends and a strong sense of duty. You'll last for a while, I bet you feel like it is your job to do so… but one day, all the pressure and all the stress of this secret will get to you, and you'll break, just like Kikyou did…"

Kagome listened carefully, and with a heavy heart. The way Inuyasha said that woman's name… it made her feel both jealous _and_ sad. However, she understood where he was coming from. He had been abandoned, time and time again. It only happened to Kagome twice, and it was practically heart-breaking, but it sounded like Inuyasha had experienced it countless times. She knew _she_ wouldn't be able to carry that sort of burden…

"I won't leave you…" Kagome said again, only earning a strained look from Inuyasha. "I won't!" she insisted, "I could never… Don't you remember? I was left alone too… I hated it… I would do anything just to go back in time to that point when I was with someone I cared for…"

Inuyasha watched her in a thoughtful silence as she went on, "I understand. You must have been like that too… Otherwise, you wouldn't have cycled through so many humans, seeking that comfort. I know. I felt so alone after you left… and it's for that reason why I'll never leave you. Being together is much better than both of us being alone, don't you think?"

Inuyasha's head had sunk throughout the speech. Slowly, he approached the sofa and Kagome and slid down to his knees, leaning. Kagome felt the weight of his head on her chest and he gazed into her eyes admirably and she did his. They weren't the golden orbs she had fallen in love with, but they were very close, these violet eyes.

"You're very nice," he murmured to her, "But the others were, too. I'm not sure it will be enough…"

Kagome wrapped her arms around his head tenderly and assured him, "It will be."

They stayed like that for a little while… Inuyasha's black locks cascading down his body and hers. He was so forlorn and alone, and Kagome never realized it. He had always acted so tough… who would have guessed that his reasons to distrust humans so much were thus?

His eyes were distant now, staring at something on the floor that wasn't there, but Kagome understood why. She let him stay like that, not forcing him to talk about it, not talking at all.

As they lay there, Kagome noticed something in herself that she hadn't noticed before. Or, at the very least, she had chosen to ignore it, like every other detail in her life. This bond with Inuyasha was stronger than she thought. Everything had started out so resentfully, but now look at them. Inuyasha was confessing to his insecurities, and Kagome was no longer letting her hear of what other people think get in the way of what she wanted.

This thing that she and Inuyasha had surpassed Hojou by miles. She had never felt this protective feeling and almost addictive yearning for Hojou. But she did for Inuyasha. After she established that fact, it wasn't long until the next epiphany hit, and it hit her like a bulldozer:

She was in love with Inuyasha.

-,-

School and writer's block: my two worst enemies. Seriously, I must have written five pages (that's about half of this chapter) that I didn't even use in the end! Yeesh. Thank you all for the most reviews I've ever received for just one chapter! Without further ado, let the replies begin!

DemonicPrincess24: Hah. Wasn't much of a fighting scene, I find that I try to keep those short because I'm not very good at writing them… Oh well, thanks for the review! It's good to hear from you again.

LadyKCassandra: Yes, I have a lot of fun when it comes to Miroku… especially when he's paired up with Sango. I'm happy you found it amusing! Thanks for the review!

JELLYandBAGELS: Uhh… yeah, he finds out about it (as you already know by now). I'm sorry updating took so long! Happy to hear from you!

OhBrother: Aw, I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much! I love working with Sango and Miroku, they are sort of my comedy relief of sorts for this fic… Yup, bad guys here now, but not all of them… (Bet you can't guess who the other is… -.-;;) Thanks for reviewing.

Beautiful.Black.Joy: Aww, thank you! I'm sorry it's taking so long… The part of the sotry I'm working on is very delicate, and I need to make sure I don't add too much unimportant information or anything that will put the plot out of whack… So, I'll still probably be a little slow for a while… I'll try very hard to update semi-regularly though!

Yamayo69: Oh, you have an idea? Do tell, considering I don't think (keyword…) that's I've said anything about it yet… well, actually, I've _mentioned_ the thing they are looking for, but no one should connect it to them just yet… What do you think they're looking for? ; )

JennyKim319: Yeah, the cliff-hanger for the last chapter wasn't the fact that Kagome _might die_, rather, it was just the suspense of who did it and why that was supposed to be the cliff-hanger… Yeah, Sango and Miroku are my favourite Inuyasha characters, so I like to put them in at points, especially Miroku, when I can… Thanks for reviewing!

PurrDragon: Nope, Inuyasha's a Kishu Inu! Shiba inus are the smallest of the six original Japanese dogs. Inuyasha is a big dog! Kishu Inu are fairly big, mellow (hah…), lovable family dogs that are usually white in colour. Out of all the Japanese dogs, a Kishu Inu looked the most like whatever Sesshomaru's dog form is, so I chose it!

MusicLuva: Grrr…. Curse you for only starting school today!!! I don't know where you live, but we have this weird system where we go in a week early but get another week off in Spring… Personally, I'd rather have the long summer… As for fic-related things, expect something big (if the end to this chapter wasn't big enough) in chapter 11. Stuff happens… Naraku _will_ be in this story. And Juromaru was the fourth (I think) of Naraku's little offspring. He had a weird ass brother that hid in his mouth that was tiny and had sickles for hands (his name was Kageromaru). I know they were in the anime, but I can't tell you the episode number. I can tell you he's on the cover of the seventeenth manga book however!! ; )

Oofie: Okee-dokee, have you updated last time I checked…? I'm going to check right after I post this chapter, so don't answer the question… Yeah, summaries are hard… I really suck at writing them, generally. I find that the shorter you can make it, the better, but I really don't know… Yes, I love working with Sango and Miroku in my stories! They are my favourite Inuyasha characters! Thank you for reviewing!

Tsukari0504: O.O _Mental breakdown_??? I'm… sort of scared now…. Ah, well, provided I survive my AP History Class, I'm sure I'll do fine. Just a lot of homework really, that's all. Fortunately I don't have _nearly_ as much stuff to do as you did (where on Earth did you find the time…?) Reviewing right…… now. There! Yay! Thank you for reviewing my story, I hope you enjoy my review as much as I enjoy yours!

Icyattitude: I'm sorry… I wish I update sooner than I actually do… School's just tough and stuff, you know. Well, Naraku _will_ appear, but he won't pop up for another few chapters. Just wait, he's comin'…

Priestessmykala: Ah, the great thing is, the college professor that is the pickiest is my Japanese teacher Roberts-sensei (she got married, hence the American last name). She's so funny and mean at the same time! "This Kodomo Kanji is a little off, it needs a neck! It is deformed! You made a deformed baby!" (Kodomo means child and it _vaguely_ resembles a sitting child) Fortunately, that wasn't said towards _my_ Kanji, but it earned a laugh from the class…. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Simply Harmonic: O.O Wow. Thank you, really! I wish I could write an adequate reply to such a long, detailed review… Thank you especially for saying that you enjoyed my sense of humour. Most of the jokes that I make are on the spot, and I worry that they either sound stupid or no one else will get them, so to hear that some one out there thinks they're funny is just great. Please don't read Yamibara! I have to say that I'm proud of it when it hits about half way through… (maybe chapter seven) but there are just some parts in it that I wrote several years ago that just make me cringe… It isn't nearly as popular as this fanfiction is, so I don't really suggest it. I'm also glad you like my characters! I've always felt (and it just may be my personal experience) that one can't like a story if one doesn't like the characters. It's very good to know I'm doing things right and I hope you continue to enjoy my fanfiction. Thank you for reviewing!

Kagome1312: Yes, he was bound to come in for the rescue, wasn't he? I might as well say it just because it is obvious: yes, they were Naraku's underlings… Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Xxangel21xx, 23Inuyasha23, phlawere, Kagome's-Inuyasha's mate, MULANIFUWEREGAY, Bunny, Flames Chaos and Wolf, Shrimps of Mass Destruction, Sessi, Leigh533, Come-D, kumikonhan, aimeelucas10, BiishikiBokkaku, Shadow thief wolf, Kylexi: Gahh! I'm so sorry! Especially to those who I have been replying to frequently of late! There's just been so many reviews… Truly, there were a few of you I really wanted to reply to, but was too worried about space to do so. I'm also sorry that I'm unable to update as frequently as I normally do, but I will try as hard as I can to push out the chapters. Thank you all for reviewing my fanfiction, and the only thing I can guarantee is that I will undoubtedly reply to you next chapter if you review! Your reviews mean a lot to me; I'm sorry I have to bundle up your responses like this! Thank you for reviewing!


	10. Rehabilitation

Eh heh heh… heh… So… Hows it going guys::Dodges a few coffee mugs:: WHOA! Oi, school's been stressful lately! By AP classes are devouring me whole, I'll have you know.

Anywho, at the risk of receiving a few more caffeinated beverages to the head :: raises Plexiglas anti-caffeinated beverage shield:: I've actually had these two chapters done for the past couple months, but because I've been distracted and lazy, I've just never posted them. :: A few coffee mugs hit the shield:: Hah, you miss.

Without further ado, the next chapter!

Chapter 10

Rehabilitation

By Auroras-flame

Kagome twiddled her thumbs on her couch, feeling anxious and worried about Inuyasha and her kitchen. It was about lunch time and Inuyasha had decided to make up ramen, and was braving the microwave. Needless to say, Kagome would have given anything to get up and make sure he wasn't destroying himself and her kitchen…

"Okay!" he called from the kitchen, "I have gotten the ramen out of the refrigerator, I have gotten a bowl out of the cupboard, I have poured the ramen into the bowl, and I have placed the bowl into the microwave… Now what?"

"Did you shut the microwave door?" Kagome asked nervously.

"Well, DUH," Inuyasha spat.

"Okay. Press the four, then the five, and then the button that reads start-slash-stop," Kagome instructed.

Three slow, wary beeps went off and Kagome gave a sigh of relief when she heard the microwave start up, "Good job, Inuyasha! Now just wait for the ti-"

"I know _that_ part! You already told me the first time we made this crap!"

Kagome shook her head and got a little more comfortable on her sofa. It was day two of intense-Inuyasha-rehabilitation, and Kagome had never been so bored in her life. Finally, she understood why Inuyasha whined so much about it when she left for work… The house was practically barren, so there wasn't anything fun to stare at or dig through… Hojou had taken away the CD player, leaving Kagome with a lot of CDs, but nothing to play them on. She still hadn't replaced her television, so there would be no watching of that or movies. She just realized that she didn't have any books either!!! Really, she had never thought of buying books, and now she was suffering for it. All in all, this was possibly the most boring house on the planet.

Inuyasha was somewhat entertaining though. It was the day of the New Moon, so Inuyasha was officially one hundred percent human, whether he wanted to be or not.

Yesterday's realization had left Kagome much more flustered than she could have ever thought she could be. When it came to bed time Inuyasha repeated what he had done the night before by bringing her up to her room like a princess and then delicately laying her down on the bed. He always treated her like she was something that was fragile… it annoyed her sometimes, but at times like that, she could never stop herself from blushing madly. Fortunately for her, Inuyasha never seemed to notice it…

Then, after he was all done tucking her in, he just crawled onto the bed and lay down right next to her, nothing covering him (with the exception of clothes THANK GOD) and slept. And of course, because of this, _she_ barely slept at all.

The timer went off and Inuyasha popped open the microwave door without a second thought.

"Don't pick it up directly!!" she tried to tell him before it would be too late.

"OW!!!"

Great.

The doorbell rang, to add to the confusion. Kagome looked up and stared at the door strangely, truly not knowing who it could possibly be. She sat up and brought her foot on the ground. Really, it only ached a teensy bit now, but since Kaede had said that it would heal best if it were elevated for forty-eight hours, Inuyasha had been making sure it d so.

The little nurse himself came running out and caught her with her foot down. He hopped over to her and forced her leg back up with a light, but firm hand, "Gods, Kagome, keep the leg up. I'll answer the door."

Kagome clawed her way up again, "Oh no you won't! You can't be seen, remember?"

"What are you talking about? I look human now. They can't tell the difference, now sit still and shut up," he argued, holding her still with his hands. She glared stubbornly, but calmed down.

Feeling that it was safe, Inuyasha let go and went to the door. He opened it up, and Kagome craned her neck to get a view of who was there.

"Hello Kago- who the heck are you?" a familiar voice trailed off from the door.

Kagome, recognizing the voice in a heartbeat, chimed from her spot on the couch, "Sango! What are you doing here?"

Sango stuck her head past Inuyasha and gasped, "Kagome! You're still on the couch? Have you moved at all since two nights ago?" Now, ignoring Inuyasha, she strode straight up to the sofa and crouched right down near her.

"I'm here too, Kagome!" Miroku piped in from the house entrance. Inuyasha closed the door after him and only watched in silence as the three greeted each other.

"Oh, both of you are here," Kagome noted concernedly, "Is there something wrong? Is there news on the people who keep breaking in?"

Miroku's face became solemn and he bowed his head, "Kagome-san, we regret to tell you that you have been targeted by a band of serial killers. You are very lucky to be alive."

Before Kagome had time to react, Sango slapped him hard over the head, "Miroku! That isn't even funny!!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry!" Miroku laughed, pleased with the attention he was getting from Sango, and then added more seriously, "But we do have news. A connection appeared between the names of the people you were attacked by."

Sango nodded, "It seems that Kagura, Juromaru, and Kanna all have names that coexist in an old Japanese Fairytale."

Kagome's eyes narrowed, trying to make relevancy out of what Sango just said, "What?"

"Their names are the same as demons' from an old legend," Sango repeated, "Obviously we aren't suggesting you were attacked by demons…" (Kagome glanced warily over at Inuyasha), "… but some group; some gang maybe who uses storybook characters as aliases or codenames."

"This is the most likely scenario," Miroku explained, "Particularly since the gun was retrieved so we couldn't get their finger prints. There would be no reason to recover the gun if they didn't have their finger prints on file somewhere."

Kagome clenched her teeth, thinking. Fairytale demons? Why was that concept not sounding impossible to her like it did to Sango and Miroku? Inuyasha mentioned something about the group being different… whatever that meant. He didn't specifically say they were demons though…

"What's the fairy tale?" Kagome wondered aloud.

"Uh, I don't remember the whole name. It didn't sound familiar to me at all when I first glanced at it," Sango admitted.

"It was something like… The Jewel of Six Souls and the Band of Demons… maybe?" Miroku gave Sango an unsure look.

She shrugged, "Yeah, something like that."

Kagome scanned through her memories, trying to figure out if she had ever heard of that story. She most decidedly had not.

"You really shouldn't dwell on the story itself. It probably doesn't relate at all to the case," Miroku told her.

"Yeah, we didn't come here to tell you that, anyway," Sango said.

Kagome became more perplexed, "Hm?"

Sango held out a bag in her hand that Kagome hadn't even noticed until now, "Here. You weren't there for lunch yesterday and today so we decided to bring some over."

Kagome accepted the ramen with a smile, "Thanks." She glanced between them, "Wait- we? Does that mean that Miroku has joined our little lunch group?"

Miroku beamed proudly, "Yes! Please be kind to me! I hope I'm not too humiliated during the initiation…"

Kagome gave him a weird look "What?"

"He makes jokes that no one understand but him," Sango explained with a strained expression, "It's his thing or something…" she waved it off like a pesky bug, "Anyway, why are you still all propped up like that? I thought the sprain wasn't that bad…"

"It isn't!" Kagome assured her, "But this guy here," she motioned towards Inuyasha without thinking (she seems to do that a lot), "won't let me move a muscle. I've only been here or on my bed for the last few days."

"Yes, who are you again?" Sango asked, attention now focused on Inuyasha.

Kagome cringed, quickly realizing that was possibly the stupidest thing she could have ever done. What was he going to say his name was? He couldn't say Inuyasha, it would just sound too weird if she named her dog after her boyfriend!!!

"Takahashi," Inuyasha stated, smooth as silk.

Kagome was surprised.

"The family name, I trust?" Sango queried, "Your given?"

Before Inuyasha could answer, Miroku pat Sango's shoulder, "Give the poor guy a break, Sango! You don't have to grill him. I'm sorry Takahashi-san, she's like this sometimes."

"Hey!"

Kagome could tell which played the good cop and which the bad cop in the interrogation room…

"It's alright," Inuyasha said coolly, and in a very un-Inuyasha-like tone.

Sango continued to cross-examine Inuyasha, "So, what is your relationship with Kagome, then? You're obviously not her brother… You don't have the same family name…" Kagome felt her heart fall into the pit of her stomach when she saw where Sango was going with this.

And, surely enough, Inuyasha walked right into it, "I'm her boyfriend."

Sango snorted and collapsed to her knees by Kagome, consumed with giggles, clearly assuming Kagome-the-hussy had picked up her fourth or fifth boyfriend in two and a half weeks.

"Sango," Kagome whispered to her, in an attempt to disperse her thoughts on her integrity, "He's the same guy. The half-naked one…"

Sango stopped giggling and stared at her. She whispered back, "This is the guy…? He came back, then?"

Kagome nodded, and noticed how Miroku and Inuyasha were eying them suspiciously. Sango stood up properly and cleared her throat. She shot a small glare at Inuyasha before turning to Miroku, "We need to go back to our stations. Kagome, thank you for having us over," Sango gave a short bow, and Miroku quickly delivered a slightly delayed one.

The partners walked over to the door and Inuyasha made sure to stand right by it to see them out. However, just before Sango departed, Kagome caught her whispering something to Inuyasha. She looked fierce and Kagome noticed the ever so slight motion Sango made revealing the gun on her hip, just before exiting.

Inuyasha closed the door behind her, his face not giving anything away to what Sango just said. Kagome eyed him cagily, "Do I _want_ to know?"

"She said she'd throw me in jail and use me for target practice if I ever dumped you again," he informed her, a terse look in his eye.

Kagome laughed shakily, "Sorry?"

"Whatever," he dismissed.

Kagome smiled, happy to be forgiven, but suddenly became troubled, "Inuyasha…?"

"Yeah?"

"About that story… the fairytale…" she began.

"Do you know it?" Inuyasha asked.

"No." Kagome shook her head and continued, "But I think it's possible that it might be more than a story. What those officers said about them being demons… they may be right." Inuyasha's eyes widened a bit. She went on, "It would explain the weird smell you got from the two of them, and the reason why you couldn't smell the girl at all… maybe."

"I don't think so," Inuyasha said quickly. Kagome frowned and he explicated, "They didn't smell at all like me, or of any other demons I've caught a whiff of…"

"Inuyasha, I thought you never met anybody like you before…" Kagome said.

"I haven't. I've smelled people similar on the street sometimes, but I've never interacted," Inuyasha sneered, "I just don't trust them…"

Kagome lowered her head, understanding Inuyasha's apprehension, "But your parents… wait, you never met them either, did you?"

"Nope," he said, completely unbothered by the fact.

"But then where did you pull that last name out from, if you didn't know your parents? Taka- uh- Takahashi?" Kagome asked, temporarily forgetting the name.

"Previous owner, rather not talk about it," he stated flatly.

Kagome winced, "Oh, sorry."

He turned around and headed back into the kitchen. From there, he shouted, "The ramen's cold now! Should I put it back in?"

Kagome grinned, grateful of Inuyasha's ability to quickly forgive and said, "Only for about twenty seconds this time, so two, zero, start."

"Got it."

-,-

Ah, here it was: the magic moment! At nine thirty exactly, Inuyasha declared, "Okay, you can put your foot down."

Kagome did so with much enthusiasm. Oh, sweet relief! She bent down to undo the bandages, but Inuyasha got in her way insisting, "I'll do that."

She backed away and allowed him to. He was down on one knee and taking extra care not to pull too hard or make a mess of the bandaging. At that time, another one of Kagome's weird fantasies kicked in. Now she felt like Cinderella, with the prince (hah! Inuyasha a prince!) down on the floor, placing the glass slipper on her dainty foot.

"Eww… look at your leg!!!"

Only… instead, it was taking off a gnarly, gross, old bandage off her un-showered, rank leg… She pulled her foot away and shot him a look of contempt before finishing the unwrapping herself with one sure yank.

It all fell off and Kagome gave Inuyasha a cocky smile, to which he merely scowled at.

The phone rang suddenly, and Kagome swooped around Inuyasha to fetch it off its new perch on the coffee table. Inuyasha folded his arms and watched her as she greeted the caller, "Hello?"

"Kagome-chan, darling!" came an elderly female voice from the other side of the phone.

Kagome felt herself twitch at being called "Kagome-chan" and wondered who would be calling her that was so elderly and would talk to her so familiarly.

"It's me! Hojou's grandmother! We met in Okinawa!" she answered her question for her.

"Oh? –OH!!!" Kagome mentally cursed. This was the woman that had confused her with Eri! Crap! How was she going to sort out this mess…? Did this woman even know that she and Hojou broke up? "Ah, Obaa-san, what's the occasion?" she asked as politely and naturally as possible.

"Well, frankly Kagome-chan, I'm a little hurt that you didn't call me sooner…" Hojou's grandmother said in a half-scolding, half-whining voice.

"Well- um, I'm sorry, I've just been so busy and-"

"No doubt! A wedding is a very big thing to plan!"

Kagome froze, "Whose wedding?"

"Yours and that grandson of mine's wedding, of course! You won't believe how hard it was for me to transfer that ring to Hojou without you finding out. You're very cunning, you know," she cackled.

Kagome crossed her legs and told her severely, "Obaa-san, what are you talking about? Hojou hasn't asked me to marry him!" she exclaimed, the thought that had been so appealing two weeks ago now turned sour in her mouth.

"Wh- what?" the poor woman sounded so perplexed, "Well, oh, oh, oh drat it! He hasn't proposed yet, what a silly, shy boy! I'm so sorry that I stole the moment from you both, I'm so clueless!"

No, apparently Kagome was the clueless one, "So wait! Hojou went to Okinawa to see you so he could get the ring to propose marriage to me?" Kagome asked, desperately wanting a confirmation of some sorts.

"Well, of course! What else?" she demanded, "Dear, I'm not going to _die_ anytime soon, and that wedding ring has been in our family for generations; the gemstones in it, even longer! Have you heard the tale about the gemstones? You see…"

Kagome's attention began fading in and out of Grandmother Hojou's conversation.

"-mons Six. We Hojou's were entrusted by a miko of purest heart to care after the …"

Hojou had actually intended to marry her… but how was that possible? He met up with Eri and cheated on her!!!

"…bead has mystical powers, and because of its greatness…"

Inuyasha got very close to Kagome's face and asked, worriedly, "What's wrong?"

"…death bed, she entrusted them to the Hojou's who had inherited special items throughout history that could hide any power, evil or divine…"

Kagome placed the phone away from her mouth and mumbled fretfully, "I don't even know…"

"It has been kept away hidden ever since, until the early twenties when my father found the pieces and had them encrust the ring of my mother's wedding ring. Since then it has been Hojou tradition to propose and wed with that glorious ring!"

"That's a lovely story, Obaa-san," Kagome stated speedily once she was done, "But I need to go, right now, it was wonderful talking to you."

"Oh, um, you too, dear. Bye bye!"

Both hung up the phones and Kagome rubbed her eyes, convinced that this was just a dream, or rather, a nightmare.

"He… he wanted to marry me?" Kagome asked dumbly, staring at the phone, "But… right when he got back from Okinawa he dumped me! It… doesn't make any sense!!" She looked over at Inuyasha, "What does this mean?"

Inuyasha's nose wrinkled up, "How should I know? I'm not friends with that idiot."

Kagome sighed and pulled her legs up to her chest. She allowed her head to rest on her knees and murmured, "It doesn't make sense…"

-,-

"Inuyasha, let's go out today!" Kagome suggested boldly at breakfast.

Inuyasha gave her a sour look, "Why?"

Because Kagome was going mad with confusion and anger over the fact that Hojou had gone to get the ring he was going to propose to her with, but it just magically disappeared and he dumped her the moment he got back. Because she had been tossing and turning all night trying to figure it out. Because she needed to get her mind off of it immediately before she lost her senses and went straight to Eri's house (she assumed what was Hojou's new residence) to demand an explanation.

She nearly went last night to find out what was going on. But it quickly became obvious that her ankle didn't have the stability and smoothness to push down on the accelerator and break pedal without getting herself killed. She didn't find this out first hand or anything, but the fact she was tripping over her two feet after having not used her foot for two days gave her the hint she wasn't ready to drive. And Inuyasha… did he even have a license?

"Just because it is a beautiful day and I don't have to go to work on Sundays," Kagome smiled artificially.

Inuyasha stared at her dubiously, "Where would we be going?"

"I don't know, to the mall, the movies… I could take you to a dog park!" she exclaimed in elated sarcasm.

Inuyasha gave a disdainful snort, "Oh, ha ha. Okay then, how would we get there?" Inuyasha asked in reference to her injured ankle.

"Oh, I bet I can drive now. If worst comes to worst I'll just use my other foot," even Inuyasha knew that was _really_ stupid, "What do you say? You still look all human, and it would be nice if we could get you some more clothes or something. Shampoo wouldn't hurt either," she said, eyeing his long hair.

Inuyasha grumbled and gave in, "Fine. But only because it sounds like you're going to go with or without me and I hate being stuck alone in this house."

Kagome sympathized with a smile, "Good. Maybe we could go out to lunch too. Ever been to a restaurant?"

-,-

Holy crap I have two and a half pages of reviews. Geesh, thanks guys! I've decided to reply to every single review this time, but spread them out between this chapter and the next. So if you don't see a review for you here, it's probably on the next page. So, here you go.

Cinnamon Pixi Stix: Love the vocab in your review. Plot thickening, drama ensuing… it makes my story sound so dramatic. Ha. Thanks for reviewing.

Samantha-Joy: Thank you. I'm sorry that I stopped so suddenly and everything…

DemonicPrincess24: Ah, men with long hair, my one true weakness after cute things… Yes, Hojou is annoying, I've never really liked his character, so I think I might make him slightly more annoying than he actually is… -.-'''' Nahh.

Phlawere::Eyes dart suspiciously from side to side::Readies amnesia inducing bludgeon:: Hah… silly phlawere… of course Inuyasha has violet eyes when he turns human and the author didn't just accidentally confuse his eyes with Miroku's after only hearing about the colour of Inuyasha's eyes off fanfiction because the author only reads the manga… Please ignore the bludgeon.

JennyKim13: Yarg, I feel almost bad for including Kikyou. Really, she has almost no more part in this story besides that one instance Inuyasha mentions her. Sorry, the line was kind of deceiving… Thanks for reviewing!

Tsukari0504: Nerg, hate to say this, but you kind of scared me into doing schoolwork… I have A's in all ::cough:: of my classes now, but I never got around to actually posting these chapters. Geez, I also need to check how far along your story is, I haven't been on for such a long time now. Anyway, back to my story… Indeed, down with Hojou… As for Kikyou, you don't have to worry about her. That one time you heard her name is her sole appearance in this fic. Almost as good as leaving her in England… Anyway, thanks for reviewing and being patient with me!! ;.;

Shrimps of Mass Destruction: Thank you! I wish Sesshomaru was in this fic… maybe the sequel (if there is one…). Thanks for reading!

Flames Chaos and Wolf: Kouga, in addition with his Super-stubbornness and rich-boy-attitude, he is also granted with super-buckling-speed, to avoid the raging fists of Inuyasha's jealousy. Thank you for reviewing!

Say0mi Saki: Hah, thank you so much. Especially for reviewing each individual chapter. O.o It was sort of funny, Your first review was cut off from all the others when I was writing these replies, and I thought you said Kagome should slap someone in chapter nine, when you really meant Hojou in the first chapter. Hahaha… ha… ha… Okay, maybe it isn't quite that funny… ;.;

Musicluva: Ah, no way! I'm from just outside of London (more or less)!!! But I've been living in California since I started Jr. High School… Ah, memories… Oh, I oh so vaguely remember the GCSEs! Never had to take them, I was in America before then, but I remember just being about to choose my subjects before moving to California. Here, we have PSAT, SAT, ACT and STAR testing. -.-;; At least the first three are optional… Anyway, yes, there are _way_ too many names in Inuyasha, even more so in the anime. A petition to prolong the anime…? That would make sense. I heard that the ending was very… err… lacklustre…? Anyway, good luck with that, I need to take the SAT soon, myself… I don't think I'm going to need to study for it though… except with vocabulary… I'm actually quite bad at vocabulary… sorry for the long reply!!

Estry: Thank you, well, I'm continuing on now, aren't I?

OhBrother: Yes, I find I might dislike Hojou a little bit more than the average Inuyasha fan, so I frequently torture him in this fic. ::Fetches flashlight and shines it below face and lets out a cackle of maniacal laughter:: Ahem. Sorry I didn't update very quickly… Thank you for the review though!

**As for the rest of you reviewing people:** I have replied to your reviews, it's just in the next chapter. Look for it on the bottom of the page as usual, and know that I'm really thankful to you all!


	11. Day Out

Okay, so to make up for the lack of posting and whatnot, I decided to double post, so everyone's all happy and stuff! Yay!

Anyway, if your review wasn't replied to in the last chapter, it probably was replied to in this one, just at the bottom as always. Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Day Out

By Auroras-flame

Kagome tilted her head to the side and critiqued him in her mind. It was… different. It actually looked sort of awkward… then again, this wasn't about how it looked; the only thing that mattered is if it served its purpose.

"How does it feel…?" Kagome questioned carefully, inspecting it over again from the across the hall.

Inuyasha shot her a glare in his violet shirt and indigo jeans, "It feels like I fell into a vat of purple dye and barely escaped."

Kagome couldn't hold it in anymore. She snorted and then began to laugh hysterically, practically collapsing to her knees in the department store dressing room hall.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and returned to his dressing room, complaining, "This is stupid! You _knew_ this would look horrible and stupid but you made me try it on anyway!!!"

Kagome's laughter subsided into merry chuckles, "True. But it just entirely brightened my day."

"I'm _so_ happy for you!"

A few minutes passed and Inuyasha came out of the dressing room holding four new shirts and three new pairs of pants and a hooded sweater. Kagome beamed and escorted him to the cashier.

After all was paid for and done, Kagome asked as they left through the glass door, "Now where do you want to go, Inuyasha?"

"Home?" he suggested, traces of hope even present in his doubtfulness.

"Not a chance!" Kagome smiled, "I said I would take you to a restaurant, didn't I?"

"And I said that I had already been to one and wasn't impressed," he grouched back.

"But there's a really good one out here!" Kagome insisted, "Traditional Japanese, almost like an inn; you'll love it!" Before Inuyasha got to say anything back, Kagome spotted a building a little further down and crooned, "Oh! A bookstore! I wanted to get a book of some sorts… I agree with you Inuyasha, it is amazingly boring in my house. We need books… and television really, but there aren't any good electronic stores out here, so let's just get the books."

Boldly and blushing, she grabbed his hand and led him across the plaza. This was so great! Yeah, she might have been torturing Inuyasha a bit, but she did really love being out here with him. It was especially wonderful because he still looked entirely human! For some reason, he hadn't gained yellow eyes or fangs or anything yet, so they didn't have to worry about people seeing him.

Just outside the bookstore, Kagome released Inuyasha's hand and opened the door. A bell tingled above them and they entered. It was a small bookstore, and sort of old looking. Kagome hurried into the rows upon rows of books, searching for the fiction section.

Inuyasha caught up with her and asked, strained, "So, what kind of books are you looking for?"

Kagome paused and glanced over at him, "Which one's do _you_ like to read?" figuring that _he_ would be the one in need of a good read when she started work tomorrow.

He folded his arms, "Kagome, for the past… I don't know… six or seven years, I have lived in the gutter or the alleyway in the shape of a dog. Do you really think I was concerned with getting my fill of Hemingway and Chaucer?"

"Point taken," Kagome stated, turning back to the fiction section. A sign caught her eye and she walked over to it, "I've always been a fan of fantasy…" She scanned the titles of the books and gave a small sneer, "If there were any more dragon books in this collection I might just-"

Her sentence halted as a familiar word caught her full attention: _Fairytales_.

Inuyasha, curious about her silence, got behind her and looked over her shoulder to see what had made her so silent.

She reached for the book on the shelf. It was old. Really old. It was probably owned by someone before too… The spine was barely keeping together, and as Kagome's fingers brushed the top of the pages she could feel the dust that had collected there after who knows how many years.

She pulled it out gently an examined the cover. It had darkened considerably with age, but remnants of its golden lettering on dull red hardback were still legible.

"_Olde Japanese Folklore and Fairytales_," Inuyasha read aloud. He looked down at Kagome, "Why do you want-?" he stopped suddenly, comprehending.

"The story- it might be in here…" Kagome murmured, "Only one way to find out…"

She carefully opened up the cover and felt the spine strain to just to keep it on. She flipped by the yellowed title page, making an awful cracking sound after not being in use many, many years, and glanced at the table of contents.

"I'll start from the bottom, you start from the top and we'll meet in the middle," Kagome said, "We're looking for something that might be called "The Jewel of Six Souls and the Band of Demons", right?"

Inuyasha nodded and they both began looking on the page for the name.

She sighed after scanning her half, "Nothing remotely like it…"

"Let's look at the next page," Inuyasha suggested.

Kagome turned the page and heard the same crackling sound. Now there were two lists of the Table of Contents, one on the left page and one on the right, the right one being slightly shorter.

"I'll look on the left, you do the right," Kagome instructed.

"Alright."

They glanced over their respective pages, and Kagome let out another frustrated sigh, "I've got nothing. You?"

"Nothing," he shrugged, "Guess it isn't in here…"

Kagome got ready to close the book, but a few key words caught her eye from Inuyasha's page. She looked at it again and beamed. She pointed a finger down at a title, "_The Jewel of Four Souls and the Demons Six_."

"That wasn't the name the officer guy gave us," Inuyasha said.

"It isn't the _exact_ name that Miroku gave us," Kagome agreed scrutinizing the title, "But he didn't even sound too sure, himself, so perhaps this is the story…" _The Jewel of Four Souls and the Demons Six_… Why did that sound familiar…?

"Ahem!"

The pair turned their heads to see the shopkeeper giving them the evil eye, "This is a bookstore," he stated, "not a library. You buy books here, you do not read them."

Kagome stood up and gave an apologetic bow, "I'm sorry, I'll buy it right now."

"Shouldn't we check if it's the right story first?" Inuyasha whispered.

"I'm pretty sure it is. The names sound way too similar for it not to be what we're looking for," she said back.

"Yeah, ever heard of Cinderellis and the Glass Hill?"

"What?" she stared at him and shook her head, "Never mind. I'm buying it."

She followed after the book keeper and readied her wallet.

-,-

Kagome held the paper bag with the book close to her, anxious to see what was inside. She would hold that in for now though, seeing as she had promised Inuyasha lunch and they were right outside the restaurant she wanted to eat at.

She walked straight inside with Inuyasha following close behind her. The Japanese greeting-girl welcomed them with a warm smile and bowed politely, "Hello, just two?" This place wasn't as fancy as TokyoBanquet Sea or Sushiland, anybody who made reservations for this place was just plain weird.

"Yes," Kagome confirmed.

"We can seat you immediately," the woman replied back cheerfully, calling over a waitress with her finger. The waitress, clad in yukata and tabi socks shuffled over and picked up two menus and chirped, "This way please!"

Kagome always loved how happy and eager all of the servers sounded at this place. It really added to the atmosphere of being a mock-Japanese Japanese guesthouse. They were seated on a raised tatami platform in front of a kotatsu table. Kagome went around to get to the other side as Inuyasha just sat down at the seat right in front of him. The cushions were a bit stiff, but just sitting down felt good after all that walking they did.

The waitress placed the menus out in front of them and gave a short bow before leaving. Kagome tapped her fingers on the table nervously as Inuyasha glanced over the menu in front of him. Was this just her, but did this sort of feel like a date? Normally, she'd be thrilled with the notion, but considering the last two dates she went on at restaurants had gone _so_ well…

Inuyasha seemed to notice Kagome's anxiousness without even needing to look up from his menu, "What are you all jittery about?"

Kagome gave him a strange look, genuinely surprised that he could detect her worry. Inuyasha glanced up briefly and caught her eye, just to return back to his menu, "Your tapping is driving me insane." Kagome stopped her fingers, and quickly hid them under the table and he continued by asking, "What? Is it the fact that the idiot is here?"

Kagome snapped to attention and gaped at Inuyasha, wide eyed, "What?" Hojou was _here_?!!! What was he, _stalking her_?!!!

"Yeah, on the other side of the restaurant," he said as Kagome wildly looked around for her ex, "He shouldn't be able to see us though, there's a wall in the way."

"_Shite_," Kagome cursed, "Are you serious? Is Hojou _actually_ here??" Before he could even confirm or deny, Kagome had risen to her feet and tromped off the tatami floor to see if what he said were true. Not even bothering to put her shoes back on, she rushed over to the wall separating the place and timidly peeked around it.

It took no time at all spotting the sod. He was wearing the blue shirt that she had gotten him for Christmas one year. Kagome's eyes narrowed furiously. Honestly, you'd think a person would have enough taste not to wear your ex's present to them… honestly…

Kagome blinked, and squinted to get a good view of who was sitting with Hojou. All she could see of the person was their back and their long, raven hair. It wasn't Eri… Eri didn't have that long of hair… Hojou seemed a little on edge by the person, whoever she was…

Kagome shook her head. What did it matter who he was eating with…? Why was he eating _here_? Here, of all places!

She huffed and marched straight back to Inuyasha. He greeted her with an annoyed, bored face, "Told you so."

Kagome scrunched up her nose and ungracefully plopped herself back into her seat.

"Wanna leave?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome was tempted, but after deliberation said, "No. Hojou has ruined every single meal I have had at a real restaurant for the past two weeks, he is not ruining this one!" With that, she picked up her menu and examined it with more passion then one should ever have to use with a menu.

She heard Inuyasha sigh from behind her laminated shield, "Whatever…"

Kagome threw down her menu and folded her arms. Didn't Hojou have anything better to do than throw her life into turmoil whenever she was feeling even remotely happy?? Really, this had been the second time, _the second time_, Hojou had appeared at the restaurant she planned to go to. This had to be more than coincidence!

Kagome grumbled and rested her arms on the table. She needed to get her mind off him… She was here with Inuyasha, not Hojou. Inuyasha should have all of her attention; it wasn't fair to him any other way.

She composed herself and resurrected one of her artificial smiles, hoping it would turn genuine when she got distracted from Hojou, "Inuyasha…"

He cringed, clearly seeing through Kagome's faux happiness. She ignored it and pulled a question out of mid air, "… um… Do you like being who you are- you know- all… dog-man-like…?" Kagome only reasoned that the question might be rude after the words came out of her mouth.

Inuyasha gave her a strange look, "Where the hell did that come from…?"

Kagome had no idea… She wasn't typically thinking about that sort of stuff- liking who one is and such. It had to be a little weird, too, since it must be like asking a man on the street if he liked being human, or would prefer life as a hamster…

When she didn't retort, Inuyasha replied, "Well, truthfully, it kind of sucks."

Kagome wasn't really expecting a serious answer from him, so his statement was rather surprising. She furrowed her eyebrows together, trying to imagine why he would say it sucked. She could think of a few reasons straight off: the need to keep the secret that you are different, not having a real home most of the time, having to survive off scraps or hunt for your own food or live off the mercy of others… and those were only a few reasons.

Kagome nodded her head sympathetically, "Yeah, I guess it would suck… having to live like that…"

Inuyasha gave her a bemused look, "I don't mind the way I live…"

Kagome became confused, "You don't mind having to live in alleys and scavenging up your food for most of your life?"

Inuyasha tilted his head, "No, not really. I think I've just gotten used to it."

"Then what sucks about it? I can think of a few times I would have been more than happy to change into a dog and escape the difficulties of human life… if only for a little while," Kagome added.

"Then you're weird," Inuyasha asserted, earning a half-hearted glare from Kagome, "The thing that _really_ sucks about being like this is the fact there is no one else like me…"

Kagome's glare melted away. She hadn't thought of that…

"All my life, I've been fending for myself," he waved a hand dismissively, "Yeah, there would occasionally be people like you who would let me stay in their house as a _pet_…"

"I don't think of you as a pet," Kagome interjected, slightly offended.

Ultimately, he paid her no attention and went on, "…but that didn't change the fact that I'm the only dog demon I've ever seen or heard of. No one has ever told me what I am or what I'm supposed to do… I've managed, I guess, but it's been kind of…" he trailed off.

Kagome ventured in, "…Lonely?"

Inuyasha scrunched his face up into a pout, "I'm not _lonely_!"

Kagome rolled her eyes, but grinned anyway. Hadn't they already been past this level of understanding? They were close, there was no doubt about that, but would she ever get Inuyasha to admit it?

A spontaneous change of colour caught her eye and she quickly snapped to attention. She stared, frozen and tense, at Inuyasha, who gave her a quizzical look, "What? What's wrong?"

"Your hair!" she squeaked, finally standing up and running over to him with her shopping bag. It was silver again! She pulled out the hooded sweater she had bought him just earlier that day and offered it to him urgently, "Put it on and cover your head. Before the ears come out…"

Inuyasha did so, but complained, "But it's so freaking hot today!"

"Oh hush! The Weatherman said it would be a 27 degree high today. We'll go home now, I won't make you eat hot food dressed up like that," Kagome said, helping Inuyasha fit the sweater over his head.

Inuyasha got the hood on and Kagome chuckled. Now he _really_ looked like some thug, with his white hair and all. She went around and picked up the other bags, including her purse, and grabbed Inuyasha's hand as soon as he stood up, "Let's go."

He nodded, looking uncomfortable with the hood and she walked him out the door. The matridee/okami-san stopped them right before they left, sounding worried, "Didn't you just get here, Miss, Sir? Has our staff displeased you in any way?"

Kagome turned around briefly and waved her hand apologetically, "No, no! The staff was wonderful, we just have an emergency. We'll come back, we swear, bye bye!" She dragged Inuyasha out of the door a speedily as she could.

On the way to the car, Kagome couldn't happen but notice with a peeved smile that all of her diner dates were always cut short for some reason… It must have been Hojou… he was present for each one… he was like some sort of dating bad luck charm. Sod.

-,-

Kagome brushed her teeth, as ritual demanded that night. Tomorrow she would have to go into work. Bah…

She smirked when she recalled what Inuyasha did the moment they got home. He was only trying to peel off his sweater, but his T-shirt came along with it. So relieved to feel cool air, he left it off, despite Kagome's minor protests. She gave in and let him go bare-chested rather easily. After all, she had seen much more of him than just that, so his chest really didn't bother her much anymore. In fact, although she would never say it out loud, she was rather giddy that he walking around like that.

She giggled, not believing her own lustiness. She spat and picked up a cup from her sink and drew some water from the faucet, gargled, and spit that out as well. She wiped her mouth and exited the down stairs bathroom. She climbed the stairs and peeked through her door.

Inuyasha was lying down on her bed, dog form. He was clearly exhausted; he still had his pants awkwardly encasing his canine legs, too tired to bother taking them off. Kagome's first thought was of those obnoxious people who dress their animals up in annoying little costumes. She snickered as she imagined trying to get Inuyasha to dress up like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for Christmas. Really, people who did that to their pets were…

Kagome stopped. Pets… Today at lunch… didn't Inuyasha say that he believed that she thought of him as a pet?

She tip-toed to the bed and crawled up on the sheets, leaning over him, "Inuyasha…"

His eyes blinked open and glanced up at hers lazily. He changed back into his human form, pants miraculously fitting his legs immediately, "Yeah?"

Kagome sat up and brought her legs to her chest, "Today, at lunch, what you said about me thinking you were like a pet to me… that isn't true, you know."

Inuyasha scoffed, and propped himself up on his elbows, "Really?"

"I don't!" Kagome insisted.

"Okay then. What _am_ I to you then?" Inuyasha asked critically.

"You're-" Kagome halted and blushed. How could she possibly answer that? Technically, he wasn't her boyfriend, he just pretended he was. _Lover_ just had the wrong connotation. Crush sounded so childish…

Inuyasha, seeing that she was having trouble answering, sighed, "Goodnight, Kagome…"

No! She wouldn't let it just end like that!

She uncurled and crashed her mouth onto Inuyasha's, suddenly, and without warning. It was a fast kiss, but it was a kiss none the less. In the fractions of seconds that she delivered the kiss, Inuyasha was entirely stiff.

Shamed and embarrassed, Kagome ended it quickly and swiftly let up, slip under the covers, and face away from Inuyasha, "Goodnight, Inuyasha."

She coiled up, totally unsure of herself. She decided quickly that she shouldn't have done that. What if he didn't like her? Yeah, he said she was nice, but that didn't say anything about whether he _liked_ _her_ liked her.

For a couple seconds Inuyasha didn't do anything. Kagome was starting to think that he wouldn't say anything at all. However, that thought didn't last long.

She felt Inuyasha sit up and start shaking her, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!!! What the heck was_ that_?!" he demanded.

Kagome scrunched up tighter. She couldn't hear him. She was asleep. She didn't have to answer him.

"Oi!! You can't just say nothing after that!" he told her.

"Yes I can!" she shouted back, not moving an inch.

Inuyasha didn't fight back. He was entirely silent. She felt his weight fall onto the bed, laying down once more. He didn't say a word.

Kagome uncoiled, just a bit and she murmured, "I don't think of you as a pet…" _I love you_, she added mentally, but dared not say aloud. She was afraid of the consequences if she said that aloud. What if he didn't feel the same way…? Would he still stay here with her? Or would he just leave, not feeling comfortable housing with someone who loved him like she did?

"I see." Kagome couldn't pinpoint the emotion that went along with his tone. That made her worry. She thought of turning around, and seeing what his expression was, but because of fear that it would be the wrong expression, she kept her back turned.

She couldn't believe what she had just done. Would this ruin their relationship forever?

But what if Inuyasha _liked_ the idea of them being together? At the moment, Kagome was doubting it… Anyway, even if he did like the idea, would she ever get around to him admitting to it?

Kagome sighed and closed her eyes, knowing that it was very unlikely that she would get any sleep at all tonight…

-,-

Sesshi's-gurl: Thank you, I hope to hear from you again.

DogHanyou3693: Yerg… sorry about the not updating for months thing… it was schools fault…?

Nekopax.: Thank you, but now I feel a little bad… guess your not gonna love my update time, huh?

Oofie: Yeah, well, where the normal Inuyasha fan might make Kouga out to be the bad guy, I worship Kouga as my love-triangle-god which leaves Hojou as being the bad guy in this… Ah, I wish I could manage to do reading, writing, and homework simultaneously… Unfortunately, two extremely hard AP classes, and a teacher who gives out English homework like candy sort of restricts my time to do anything fun… ;.;

BoredGirl17: I'm happy that this made you laugh, sometimes I review old fics and cartoons I've drawn ad wonder if I really have an acceptable sense of humour or not… I hope to hear from you again!

Beautiful.Black.Joy: Gahhhhh::Gets hurled to the ground by a tremendous force:: The guilt! It's cutting off my air supply!!! You so desperately wanted be to update soon, and I ended up not getting around to it for months! I'm soooo sorry!!!! I hope everyone isn't ticked at me for this… but schools really stressful---- ;.; Sorry…

Kylexi: Yeah, I sort of did choose schoolwork over fanfiction… and then I didn't even have time to update until the semester was over…. Kind of lame, but I've got A's in almost all of my classes, that's good… right…? As for Kikyou, nope, totally regretting mentioning her name now. She has no appearance in this fic whatsoever besides her name being uttered. A lot of people seem to be concerned about her… Anyway, thank you for reviewing!

Shadow thief wolf: Yeah, sorry it took so long to post these chapters… but here they are!

Kumikonhan: Thank you, I really appreciate you reviewing each chapter like this.

Greenee16: Fortunately, I have dominated over school with almost all A's in my classes (curse you AP Chem and your unreasonably hard tests!!!) and I have about two weeks before I'm thrown back into academic hell and can't touch a computer without fretting about how I have some paper or another to type out… Yeah, sorry, off topic, thank you for your review!!

Kagome1312: Thank you, it's always good to hear from you!

My Heart is in Sonoma County: Gahh, I'm so sorry I haven't been updating or even checking up on lately! I so would have tried to update sooner if I had the time to! I'm so sorry!

Lakodasmoon: Wow. I actually can't answer even one of those questions without spoiling something. Phew, always like questions though. Well, I hope you find some answers in these two chapters, but chances are, you'll just get more questions… -.-;; Thank you for reviewing!

Monkinkninja: Thank you so much, I hope to hear from you again!

Rowdysgirl: Well, I'm going to reply to your review anyway! I'm sorry I just haven't been writing lately. School is evil and mean and cruel to me… I'm also really happy you like my jokes, sometimes I wonder about them… Thanks for the review!

Jessica: I'm sorry, I haven't been updating, but thanks for the review!

Veralidaine Sarrasri of Galla: Thank you! I was admittedly a little worried about adding so many random Western references, but I'm pleased that someone did enjoy them! I hope that you will review in the future!


	12. Glee

Kagome hissed when she realized she was beginning to chew her nails again

Ah, man, I don't believe it: I'm actually almost done with this fanfiction! I've never actually _finished_ a fanfic before. Awesome. Well, it isn't like it's ending in this chapter or anything, but I think after this there will be only two more chapters, and probably an Epilogue… Wow…

Chapter 12

Glee

By Auroras-flame

Kagome hissed when she realized she was beginning to chew her nails again. It was a disgusting habit of hers that happened whenever she was nervous to the point of becoming a wreck. It was all because of that stupid stunt she pulled last night! She was up until three, waiting for Inuyasha silently slip out of the bed and leave the house. He never did, though, and she fell asleep. When she woke up, he was still there too, asleep, as he was now.

Kagome took a large gulp of her coffee, finishing it off completely. She only got three hours of sleep, total. She poured herself another cup. She would need all the caffeine she could get. She was even using the double-shot beans that Hojou had brought her back from Okinawa. The thought of relying on anything of Hojou's- from that trip especially- was sickening. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and that humongous jar of coffee beans looked just way too friendly.

She took another gulp, and scowled at her coffee gluttony. She was downing this stuff like water…

She heard the stairs groan from the other room, and her heart temporarily stopped. It was Inuyasha, he was up. She didn't go out to greet him, she was much too petrified. Besides, he would come to her, wouldn't he?

When she heard his footsteps on the ground floor she pivoted around and faced the coffee maker on the counter. The steps grew louder as they neared. What should she do? She should just act natural. Pretend that nothing happened at all. She wouldn't bring it up if he didn't.

The footsteps halted inside the kitchen, and Kagome plastered a smile on her face as she spun around to see him, "Good morning, Inuyasha."

He didn't look like he just woke up… His eyelids weren't drooped, his posture was as perfect (for Inuyasha) as ever, and his expression was sober. His shirt was still missing, which was a little distracting for Kagome, but she didn't dare look anywhere but his eyes. It would be much too obvious if she looked anywhere else. His nose twitched slightly and he mumbled back, "Good morning."

She couldn't handle this for much longer. To keep herself occupied, she walked over to the refrigerator and began examining its inner contents, "Do you want some breakfast? I don't think I should start up actually cooking something, considering I need to leave for work fairly soon, but if you really want me to I could…" She glanced over the top of the refrigerator door. Big mistake.

Inuyasha was giving her a pitying, hopeless look. Kagome hid her face behind the door again, her face becoming cool from the freezing air leaking out of the fridge.

"Kagome…?"

Kagome squeezed her eyes tight, and then opened them up very wide. They returned to a normal, relaxed state and she resurfaced from the refrigerator, "Yes, Inuyasha?" she forced a smile, "Do you want something…?"

Inuyasha seemed to react to her obvious avoidance. First he looked confused and unsure, and then his face changed to some odd expression that Kagome had never seen Inuyasha wear before. It looked like a combination of being hurt and strained; irresolute. As soon as that unidentifiable face appeared, it disappeared, and was replaced with a look of pure despondency, "No, nothing. Go ahead and go to work."

He turned to leave. Kagome's head shot up and fear pulsed through her system. The fear of him leaving. She ran after him, in high heels and leaving the refrigerator door open.

"Inuyasha!" she shouted out to his bare back.

He paused to look back at her, and before he knew it, she had tackled his chest lightly in a tight hug. Inuyasha froze up, entirely stiff, much like the first time they hugged… back in the pound.

Kagome clung onto him a little more, absorbing his warmth through her tender cheek that lay on his chest. Her fingertips caught the tension and muscle in his back and shoulders, and could hear his heart thumping in her ear. "You'll be here, right?" she asked, face still buried, "When I get home, you won't have run off, right?"

His tension lessened and Kagome felt his shoulder blades sink into a more comfortable position. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, "I shouldn't have done that. It was way too sudden, I admit it, and you must have been entirely unprepared, it must have been such a horrible shock. I don't know what I was thinking, I'm so sorry. I hope this doesn't affect our relationship in a really negative manner and-" Kagome stopped herself when she realized she was babbling.

"I'm sorry," she summed up, ending it there.

To her surprise, almost immediately, Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her. She gave a small gasp and looked up at him. He was smiling, but weakly. She would almost say he looked guilty if he hadn't spoken. "I'll be here, I swear."

Kagome felt a true smile spread across her lips, "You haven't tired of me yet, then?" she joked in his arms.

Inuyasha gave her a snort, "Not yet. Gotta say: you keep things interesting."

Kagome beamed, and hugged him a little tighter, but less desperately. That being done, she released him, and him her. She blushed slightly, but only from happiness, not embarrassment.

She glanced at the clock hanging up on the wall and cursed, "Oh! I need to go. Inuyasha," she got on her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek (she simply couldn't resist), "thank you!" before grabbing her purse off the couch and making a run for it, grinning like a silly fool.

She turned around to close the door, and caught a glimpse of Inuyasha looking very shocked and a hand placed on the spot she kissed him, totally dumbstruck. She giggled and pranced over to her car, fully rejuvenated with a dose of confidence.

She picked up whistling as she sat in the driver's seat and starting on the car. She backed up out of the driveway and was on her way.

Kagome was already squealing with giddiness by the time she turned off her street. She had a chance! _Maybe_. Well, if she was in his shoes and only thought of her as the person who fed her, she'd be out of there the second she got kissed. Just the fact that he stayed was encouraging in itself.

She gave a small satisfied sigh. She was in love, and the world, if only for a moment, was pleasing, if not perfect.

A familiar, hideous colour distracted her from her glee. Her head turned and she spotted the perpetrator: the offensively orange Animal Control Centre van. Kagome sneered and she saw good old Mukotsu himself with a net (he was actually using a net!) slowly approaching a very small dog- possibly a Chihuahua.

Her first thought was to drive right past the scene and evade any contact she might have with the repulsive man, but a specific quarrel made her pull over in front of the van and go up to meet him.

She paused a couple metres away from him to see him waving a doggie treat in front of the dog, his oversized net in his other hand. The dog, clearly dimmer than a burnt out light bulb, inched towards the treat, mouth salivating slightly. When he got close enough, Mukotsu swung the net and caught the tiny thing under it. The dog yipped and barked; Mukotsu let out a hearty chuckle, "Dumb mutt."

Kagome couldn't agree more. Mukotsu waddled over to the net, lifted it up and grabbed the Chihuahua by the scruff of the neck. It squirmed about and tried to nip him a bit, but it was much too small to be any true threat. Mukotsu laughed at the dog's pathetic attempts. He turned around and spotted Kagome, and practically dropped his new catch from sheer surprise.

"Kishu girl!" he exclaimed, entirely blown away.

"Not using a gun today, I see," Kagome commented scathingly.

"Not for this moron. I probably wouldn't even have needed to use the net… lost dog, entirely domestic, still even has his collar," Mukotsu said, tugging at the little ring around the dog's neck.

"Nice to know you show _some_ restraint," Kagome growled, "I want to talk to you."

Quickly, he got a cocky, superior look, "Let me guess: the doggie ran away?"

Kagome huffed and crossed her arms, "No, he's still living with me." Mukotsu scowled and placed the tiny pooch in his van, demanding, "What do you want from me then? Don't suppose you just felt like saying hello?"

Kagome scoffed and approached him in a menacing manner, "I've got a bone to pick with you."

Mukotsu gave her a perplexed look, "What? What did I do?"

Kagome was offended by his feigning of innocence, "Just where do you get off putting _blood thinners_ into a dog?!"

Mukotsu reared back, "What?"

"Don't act oblivious! I know you injected my dog with blood thinners before releasing him to me," Kagome snapped, "He received a cut and he didn't stop bleeding for a day and a half!" She made sure not to say that her dog also told her that he did it.

It was Mukotsu's turn to take offence, "What on God's green Earth are you babbling about, Lady?" Kagome blinked. "Inject blood thinners into a dog??" he continued, "They'd have my backside kicked to the streets so fast my head would spin if I did something like that. Blimey, I don't even believe using blood thinners on rats, let alone dogs! A quick, painless, clean putting down, sure, that's humane enough, but bleeding to death is messy, painful, and long. I don't do my job because I hate animals, Miss, I would never wish that sort of death to any animal, even a monster like yours."

Kagome was speechless. So… the Dog Catcher wasn't the one that caused the massive blood loss from Inuyasha? But… Inuyasha said he injected him with _something_… and there was no doubt that his clotting had been altered. But Mukotsu sounded so truthful just then… Inuyasha wouldn't be the one who was lying- it wouldn't make sense.

"Well, did you inject _something_ into him?" Kagome questioned.

"More tranquilizer, at one point," Mukotsu shrugged.

"Oh! Could the tranquilizers have a side effect that might thin out an animal's blood?!" Kagome asked.

"No!" Mukotsu shot, "We wouldn't use it if it did. Now, Miss, are you quite finished with interrogating me?"

Kagome wanted more information, but she didn't know what questions needed to be asked. She hung her head, "Yes."

"Very well, I'll be on my way. Cheerio, Miss." His van door slammed shut and the car started up. The van left, leaving Kagome to fret on the sidewalk. What did this mean…?

-,-

Kagome trudged into work with the skip in her step lost to Mukotsu's denial. Kagome was pretty sure he wasn't lying… she had prided herself on how she could always catch Hojou when he lied to her, but then again, Hojou wasn't the best fibber in the world…

Usually, Hojou lied when he had misplaced or broken something, no matter how unimportant it may be. There was one memorable time when he had accidentally stepped on the remote and snapped it in two; rather than just say 'oops' and show it to Kagome, he hid it in some weird cereal that they tried out, and quickly found out wasn't to their liking. So, the remote just magically disappeared for about a month or so, until Kagome decided to finally throw out the box and found the shattered remote inside. Ever since then, if anything went missing she would automatically ask Hojou if he had put it somewhere so she couldn't find it. Really, Kagome didn't know how she put up with him for so long…

"Ka- go- me!!" rang a little singsong voice from beside her.

She gave a little jump from the shock, but quickly recovered and sneered at the all too recognizable chanting of Kouga. He gave her his customary bright smile and a curt wave, "Hi there!"

Kagome sighed, "What do you want Kouga…?"

Kouga donned a look of faux suffering, "Want? Why, I don't want anything from you Kagome, I just had an urge to talk- you know out of the spirit of friendship, in a totally noncommittal sort of way, completely platonic…"

Kagome rolled her eyes, seeing where this was going, "My boyfriend is none of your concern, Kouga," she allowed herself to grin with the word 'boyfriend'.

Kouga laughed heartily; wiping the smile off of her face, "Kagome, Kagome, Kagome…" he chuckled chidingly, "I know for a fact that that guy isn't your boyfriend."

Kagome bristled, both furious over the denial over her and Inuyasha's closeness and how quickly Kouga caught her lie, "Yes he is," she snapped with possibly a little too much gusto.

"No he isn't," Kouga smiled smugly back, "I know you would have never agreed to go out with me if you _really_ had a boyfriend at home waiting for you…"

"Wasn't it a friendly get-together?" Kagome interrupted, her false, happy, innocent face present.

Kouga wasn't fazed, "Even if you really believed that, you wouldn't have gone on it with me. You just aren't that type of girl," he shrugged, "Either he isn't your boyfriend or you fell madly in love with a stranger after I dropped you off that night or the morning after."

Kagome opened her mouth to say something cutting, but couldn't come up with a single phrase. She shut it and swiveled back around towards her computer.

Even without looking at him Kagome knew Kouga was overly content with himself. Only a few moments passed before Kouga got to the real reason why he came, "Actually, even though I know he's not really your boyfriend, I _am_ curious about who he really is, this self acclaimed beau of yours."

Kagome shot him a glare, "He is who he says he is." Knowing she would need something to back her claim up, she very speedily devised a story in her head, "Truthfully, I've known him for a while now, and I've had feelings for him for almost just as long…" Kagome noted how Kouga's face was unchanging as she went on, "… I called him up when I hurt my leg, and he came rushing over. There, when he was taking care of my leg, he told me he cared for me and I confessed my feelings for him, too. That's why he told you he was my boyfriend the day after…," Kagome's eyes became more keen, "…because he is."

Kagome reflected back on the story as soon as she told it, and mentally slapped her hand against her forehead. It was _so_ Tween Drama she felt a little sick. Her gaze never flinched though, she continued to stare straight at Kouga, determined not to let him see that she was lying.

Kouga bowed his head, seemingly in defeat. Kagome's heart sped a little bit; had she gotten away with it? Kouga stood up and gave a noisy sigh, "Okay, I'll stop asking you if you're only going to lie…"

Kagome scrunched her face up and cursed. _Crap_.

"But I will find out who he is… who he _really_ is," Kouga told her, turning around a walking back to the doors that led to his office. Just as Kagome expected him to disappear, he stopped suddenly a peered back at her, "Oh, yes, by the way, does your _boyfriend_ have a name?"

Kagome folded her arms and raised an eyebrow, "Why, are you going to contact the mob and have them _check up on him_?"

"Maybe…" Kouga grinned darkly.

Kagome wasn't that dumb, "I don't think I'll tell you…" she announced with a smile just as dark.

Kouga tilted his head in some sort of combination between a nod and a shrug, "Whatever," he said nonchalantly, "I'm still going to find out… somehow… eventually." He slid back into his office and silently shut the door after him.

Kagome unfolded her arms, exhaled, and stared at her monitor. Kouga. He wasn't going to be a problem that would just go away, was he? She had to admit that he was a force to be reckoned with. Kagome prided herself on being an extraordinarily good liar, and he always just saw right past that. How bothersome… and extremely annoying…

She rested her head on her desk, and began to beam as thoughts of Inuyasha entered her head like sugarplums. Who really cared about Kouga? If she was with Inuyasha, Kouga would be forced to fade away… at least in her mind.

She kicked her feet around at a playful beat under her chair and let out a small giggle. After she was done with work, she could home and see Inuyasha…

-.-

Kagome walked into the ramen house, her good mood unbreakable. She spotted Sango and Miroku already seated by the bar, laughing about something or other.

Kagome grinned impishly. Despite what Sango said all those times about how much she disliked Miroku, Kagome had a strong hunch that most of it was just talk. It was already painfully obvious that Miroku adored Sango, but Kagome wasn't too sure until just now that Sango was just as fond of him.

Kagome caught Sango's eye and was waved over. Miroku looked like he was about to scoot over to make room for Kagome between them, but Kagome purposely sat on the other side of Sango so that the two could be as close as possible.

"Kagome, the usual?" asked the hulking ramen man Kyokotsu from behind the counter.

Kagome nodded her head and then turned her attention to her two friends, "So, have you guys been eating here everyday since I spilled the beans?"

Miroku bobbed his head enthusiastically, and Sango commented dryly, "Yeah, I figured I would let him since he would probably stalk me if I changed restaurants…"

"Sango!" Kagome laughed in a scolding voice, shooting a nervous glance at Miroku. The point in making sure the partners were close would be lost if they ended up bickering.

Miroku shook his head and shrugged, "No, she's right. I would."

"Well," Sango rested her elbows on the counter, "I will admit: you haven't been _that_ terrible of company."

Miroku blinked feverishly, "Such kind words," he swooned, dramatically bowing his head to her, "I am not worthy…"

Sango smiled, but cut in, "No, you're really not."

Kagome laughed at the pair and just couldn't help herself, perhaps just giddy from her own romance, "Well, perhaps I should leave… I don't want to ruin your guys' date…"

Sango froze solid one second, and then blushed crimson the next, "What?! No! Miroku and I are _partners_, we can't _date_. It would get in the way of our jobs! Tell her she's wrong Miroku."

Kagome instantly regretted her words, and leaned over to see if Miroku was alright from Sango's harsh reprimand. He didn't have the slightest hint of hopelessness or pain in his face. Actually, he waited for her to face him directly and told her straight out, "Sango, we've been dating for the past year and a half."

Kagome's jaw dropped as well as Sango's. The ramen house was far from soundless, but it might as well have been with all the tension in the air. Miroku smirked, "…You just didn't know it."

Sango's mouth closed, and she gave Miroku a torn, wary expression, "…Miroku…"

The pair was silent for the longest time; so long in fact, that Kagome felt extremely awkward. Her eyes met with the ramen bowl that had been placed in front of her who knows how long ago, grabbed her purse, threw out some money and muttered very quickly, "Umm… I'll just go now," before rushing out of the ramen house and straight to her car, not wishing to be a third wheel for any longer.

As she got in and closed the door, a trickle of laughter escaped her mouth. She glanced back at the ramen house and grinned. Hopefully things were going well in there. She sniggered as she remembered Sango's reaction and started up her car. She didn't need lunch today…

She backed out of the parking lot and headed back for work, her lips upturned hard in a permanent smile. Love was just everywhere, wasn't it…?

She might not be so sure of Inuyasha's feelings for her as she was of Miroku's for Sango, but this had to be a good omen of some kind. Stuff like this almost made her _happy_ that Hojou cheated on her with Eri. Really, without Hojou being a snivelling, little, rotten sod, she never would have gotten Inuyasha the pound; he might have even been killed or "put to sleep" by this point.

Kagome kept focused ahead, and when she was about only half a kilometre or so away from her work, she heard the familiar tune of her cell phone jingling in her bag. Keeping a firm eye on the road, she bent her arm down and yanked it out.

She glanced at the number and frowned. It wasn't a number that was in her contacts list and she didn't recognize it straight off either… She flipped open the phone anyway and questioned it unsurely, "Hello?"

"Miss Higurashi," greeted a deep voice she had never heard before from the other line.

Kagome's eyebrows furrowed together, "Yes, I'm her. Umm, who are you?"

"We have your dog demon tranquilized, if you do not return to your house immediately with the jewel we will put a bullet through its head."

-,-

Ehhhh… and you guys thought the last chapter had a bad cliff hanger…

Another Ehhhh… I feel kind of bad about the Miroku/Sango fluff I put in there… it was too sudden writing it, let alone reading it… Well, just trust that stuff happened at work that led up to that scene not being sudden, and focus on the rest of the fic.

I'm afraid I'm not going to write responses to reviews this time. It's for a good reason though! I'm really focusing on the fanfic itself now, and actually, I've already finished the entire thing with the exception of the epilogue and editing! Expect The Doghouse to finish by the end of a few weeks folks! I hope you review!


	13. Betrayal and a Bedtime Story

Kagome flipped open the phone anyway and questioned it unsurely, "Hello

:Awkward Laugh: Hey, guys… So, I only totally forgot that I ended the last chapter that way since the beginning of this one starts out with the same lines. So… erm, … sorry…?

Well, at least it was a fast update right? We're getting uber close to the end now, as one could probably tell by my constant mentions of it and Inuyasha with a gun at his head all of a sudden…. Heh, well, here's the second to last chapter!

YAAAARRRRGGGG!! Curse you, and/or Microsoft Word editing system!! The same thing happened as all those chapters ago when all of the Kagome's were turned into "I"s!! GRRROOOOOOGGGGGG!! :Pants a little: Well… thank you _My Heart is in Sonoma County_ for pointing that out to me so it could be fixed before any other readers thought I was crazy… I think it has tio do with the fact that I had the document up as I was loading it into …. Grr…

Chapter 13

Betrayal and a Bedtime Story

By Auroras-flame

Kagome flipped open the phone anyway and questioned it unsurely, "Hello?"

"Miss Higurashi," a deep voice she had never heard before greeted her from the other line.

Kagome's eyebrows furrowed together, "Yes, I'm her. Umm, who are you?"

"We have your dog demon tranquilized, if you do not return to your house immediately with the jewel we will put a bullet through its head."

Kagome didn't even hesitate pulling the car over to the side of the road and parking it.

Her eyes wide open in shock and outrage she demanded, "Who are you?!"

"Your house. In 15 minutes. Don't call the police, or the dog demon eats lead." The recognizable click of the phone hanging up sounded in Kagome's ear. She threw her cell onto the passenger seat and u-turned her car around. She sped home, probably breaking more traffic laws than she ever had in her whole life.

Those thieves, they came back. She didn't recognize the voice of the man she was talking to, perhaps it was Juromaru… or maybe even an accomplice she hadn't even seen yet…

She let out a frustrated cry, unable to do anything else but get home before Inuyasha's time was up. Fortunately, despite it being lunch hour, very few cars were actually out. So she sped by the few that were quickly, and soon she was in her own neighbourhood. Just as soon as she was about to pull onto her street, a horribly memorable sight struck her: the traffic cones that were up on the night Kagome dropped her off, seemingly for no reason, were there now.

Kagome tightened her jaw, and quickly parked her car on the corner. She exited the vehicle, leaving everything in it, not even bothering to shut the door, and marched straight down the block to her house.

By the time she was next to Kaede's house, two dark clad figures came up from behind her. She didn't jump or squeak, fully expecting some sort of escort service to come up somewhere. She glanced at the both of them and recognized them as Kagura and Juromaru. The femme fatale had a wicked grin planted on her face, and who knew what Juromaru's expression was with that mask…

Juromaru was about to take her by the arms to ensure that she didn't escape but she dodged his clutch and hissed, "I'm quite capable of walking to my own house by myself, thank you."

The words must have registered, because Juromaru let her be after that, but besides that, no emotion or understanding reflected in his eyes.

As Kagome stepped onto her porch, Kagura speedily got in front of her, and opened the door up for her. Kagome's nose wrinkled, knowing the gesture was most likely not out of kindness, and examined her living room. There, sitting comfortably in chairs taken from Kagome's dining room, were three figures.

One was the pale Kanna, staring blankly at Kagome. The next was a strangely familiar long haired man with a dark suit and a cruel smirk. He also watched Kagome expectantly as her eyes turned to the third individual: Inuyasha.

Kagome's mind went as blank as Kanna's eyes and her thoughts were thrown into confusion. Inuyasha wasn't knocked out… he wasn't even in his dog form. He was perfectly fine, unrestrained, resting next to the demons beside him like they were old friends.

His face was twisted in a way of extreme pity and guilt. Kagome managed to stutter out, "Inu- Inuyasha…?" his face exemplified his emotions even more so as she went on, still not grasping the situation, "You- you're okay…?"

The unknown man's smile widened, and even the emotionless Kanna seemed to find amusement in the scene. The harsh reality of things came crashing down on Kagome like falling rocks.

Inuyasha was one of them.

Kagome, feeling like a small animal in front of a pack of wolves, took the smallest step backwards from the predators before her. Inuyasha's remorseful face suddenly became fearful as his eyes grew big and he shouted, "No!! STOP!!"

Kagome froze, at first thinking he meant her, but a shadow overlapping hers from the doorway revealed a petite figure holding the blunt side of a gun over her head. With a small evil, "Nighty-night," Kagura beat the gun over the back of Kagome's head.

All went black.

-,-

"Kagome…"

Kagome winced as she felt a small patting on her cheek.

"Kagome…"

She opened her eyes to a squint. Inuyasha's face was right in front of hers. She could see nothing else.

"Kagome…" she thought she saw his lips mutter.

Her eyes opened a little wider and she became a little more aware of her surroundings. She was in her dining room, and Inuyasha was really close to her, his hands cradled her face.

"Inuyasha…?" she smiled, happy to just be near him.

He smiled back.

"So she's finally up?" asked a deep voice, that Kagome knew somehow.

Kagome's memory came flooding back to her; so quickly, that at the first word uttered by the other man, she flung herself away from Inuyasha. Somehow, instead of just flinging herself away, she found herself unable to stand away from the chair she was sitting in and collapsed to the ground, soon realizing there that she was bound to it. She hissed, and looked up at Inuyasha, with hurt, betrayed eyes.

Inuyasha, worried by her fall, hunched over her, "Kagome!"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she spat. The dog demon winced at the words, but backed off.

A dark chuckling emitted by the strange man took Kagome's attentions away from Inuyasha. "Never thought that that coward Hojou would want such a fireball for a wife," he mused, looking down at the defenceless, but spirited Kagome.

"Who are you and what do you want from me?!" she demanded from the floor, not allowing herself to show weakness, even though she could already feel tears running out of her eyes over Inuyasha's duplicity. She scanned the room and didn't see Kagura, Juromaru, or Kanna anywhere.

The man graciously bowed his head and murmured to himself more than anyone, "Yes, I suppose introductions would be in order by this point, especially since it seems your dear beloved Hojou kept you in the dark…"

Kagome's eyes sparked at the mention of Hojou, but the man proceeded before she could ask any questions, "My name is Naraku, Miss Higurashi, and you know what I'm after: I want the jewel."

"What jewel?!" Kagome asked, aggravated with everything.

Naraku raised his eyebrow, "The Jewel of Four Souls of course! We thought you already knew…" Naraku pulled out the old fairytale book out from behind him, "Haven't you read this yet?"

Kagome's eyes narrowed and Naraku let out a charmed chortle, "No? Well, how silly of us. We rushed this whole operation because we were _sure_ you knew." Naraku let his gaze slip over to Inuyasha, but Kagome refused to break her glare. If she saw Inuyasha now, she just might sob. "Well!" Naraku flipped open the book to a certain page and said, "I suppose this can't be a bedtime story since you _already_ went to sleep, but I won't tell anyone if you don't…"

Kagome's entire body firmed up, not at all entertained by Naraku's sense of humour.

"Once upon a time…" he began, but then frowned. He flipped through the pages and just shook his head, tut-ting the entire way through, "Well, _damn_ it all! This won't do… It's all told by the monk… Not to mention how lengthy it is… Well!" he slapped the book shut, "How about I just tell you the succinct, right version, then…?" he began up again, "Once upon a time, there was a demon who thirsted for power…" Naraku's eyes glistened in the kitchen lighting, "He found that power a magical bead called "The Jewel of Four Souls". Unfortunately, the poor little demon didn't own the jewel, but a big, mean priestess did."

Kagome would have rolled her eyes if she wasn't afraid this nut job would rip her head of if she did. Oh, brother.

"So the demon made incarnations of himself- five of them in total. Goshinki, Juromaru, Kageromaru, Kagura, and Kanna. Together, they set out to claim the jewel as the Demons Six."

"The demons travelled far, to where a five tier pagoda stood, with the priestess on the very top level. The demon made it to the very top, and began to fight the priestess intrepidly. He told his five incarnations to guard the other floors."

"Such protection was needed because along came a monk, who sensed the presence of the demons and travelled to it. A monk pure of heart with a will of steel…" Naraku spat, "On the first floor was Goshinki. The monk murdered him where he stood. Then he went up to the second tier and fought the pair Juromaru and Kageromaru. He purified Kageromaru to death, and left the Juromaru on the floor, unable to even function without a direct order from his elder brother. Then on the third tier, he battled Kagura. He burned her mystical fans and beat her brutally, but left her alive out of his supreme _mercy_. On fourth tier he battled Kanna. He shattered her mirror to shards, and she too fell down to the ground, useless, almost beyond repair."

"Finally, he made it to the fifth story of the pagoda," Naraku's eyes narrowed with hate, "I had just taken care of that priestess and retrieved the jewel. All was within my grasp now: Japan, humanity, the entire world would bow at my feet!!" Naraku's tone fell, "Alas, the monk that was pure of heart and with a will of steel purified the shard and me with it."

Kagome was silent. She still didn't understand what it had to do with her. What, was she some descendent of the monk or something? Was this Naraku guy trying to exact revenge on her for something her ancestor did 500 years ago maybe?

"If you read any Fairytale book," Naraku commented snidely, glaring contemptuously at the hardback in front of him now, "It will tell you that the demon died, and the priestess, with her final words requested the monk hide the jewel somewhere safe so no other evil could get their hands on it. And that's true… for the most part. Of course, the demon didn't die though," Naraku's eyes flickered up to Kagome's, "And he, and the remaining three members of the Demons Six sought the jewel long and hard, well after the priestess' death."

Naraku leaned back in his chair, "It seemed for a while that the monk destroyed the jewel… It wasn't with him or his family; it wasn't protected at a well guarded temple- no! It was at some old rickety shrine that the monk found on the way home from the pagoda!!" Naraku was practically in hysterics now. He had left his chair and now was pacing in the area in front of Kagome's head, "He placed the protection of the gem that could rule the world in the hands of some country, bumpkin priest! It's no wonder we couldn't find it for ages, it was in the last possible place we would dream of looking!!"

Naraku continued to rant and Kagome's eyes wandered away from Naraku's pacing feet in thought. This story… although with not so much psychotic ranting… sounded eerily familiar, but Kagome couldn't place her finger on where she heard it… It was the same feeling she got when she heard the fairytale's true title…

"So!!" Naraku stated so loudly that Kagome was forced to pay attention again. He crouched down to the floor so they could meet eye to eye, "You must be wondering what all this has to do with you…" Kagome tensed up, and waited for Naraku's answer, but it didn't come immediately. He asked, "Do you know what that country bumpkin priest's decedents did to that stone? Well, first, they shattered it," Naraku's fists burst open corresponding with his words, "And then do you know what they did with the shards? They made them even smaller, into tiny cut gems…" Naraku examined Kagome's face, "Do you get it now?"

"NO." Kagome said fiercely.

Naraku made a strained expression as if he were dealing with someone who was mentally impaired, "What they did with the tiny cut gems, Kagome dear, is they encrusted them onto a ring." Naraku awaited her response. Unfortunately for him it never came.

"That means absolutely nothing to me," Kagome stated firmly from the ground.

Naraku's face flushed red with fury, "YOUR ENGAGEMENT RING YOU LITTLE TWIT!!"

Kagome reared back in fear of the fearsome demon, and it was three seconds before what he said finally registered in her mind. When that clicked, then a whole chain of other things clicked with it. Hojou's grandmother! She told her about the Jewel of Four Souls and Demons Six story! She told her that the Jewel of Four Souls was encrusted on the family ring for nearly ninety years! Holy crap, Hojou's grandmother told her everything she needed to know, if only she had paid attention!! The news of Hojou's true intentions threw her so far off that she barely heard a word his grandmother said after that!!

Naraku, apparently satisfied with Kagome's face, sniggered contently back to his chair and took a seat. "Well?" he asked expectantly. Kagome looked back up at him. "Where is it?" Naraku asked with civil manner she knew he didn't really possess, "From what dear, old, Hojou tells us, you kept it after the engagement was broken off…" Kagome's face tightened in horror and fury, "…and may I add, hid it extremely well, because we have literally torn this place apart and we still can't find it…"

"Naraku," Inuyasha spoke for the first time since Kagome woke up, "Kagome never received the ring from Hojou…"

Kagome tore her eyes away from everything but the ground as she heard Inuyasha's voice. Her eyes were already beginning to swell up with tears and she could feel her heart breaking all over again.

Even without looking at Naraku's face, she could tell he was angry by his voice, "What?! …. No!… Hojou told me…"

"You were lied to then! I've never even _seen_ the Goddamn ring!" Kagome snapped, her head flying up to face Naraku, now recognizing him as the person she saw Hojou eating lunch with at the diner. Hojou!! How _could_ he?! First he dumps her and then he throws her to the dogs?!

Naraku's eyes met hers, shocked and furious, "He would dare…" Naraku trailed off, and after a couple seconds, seemed to relax, with a breath, he said, "It doesn't matter… the ring _is_ in this house, there is no doubting that… we all could sense it, ever since we stepped foot in this suburb…" Naraku shot a look at Inuyasha and ordered, "Sit her up straight."

Without a sound, Kagome felt herself get gently lifted up by the chair, and placed right-side-up once more. She didn't even glance at Inuyasha, and just continued to squarely glare at Naraku.

The black haired demon gave her an obviously fake smile, "So, I wouldn't suppose you would _know_ where dear little Hojou would hide the ring, would you?"

Kagome snorted, "_Why would I_?"

Naraku blinked and murmured, "Kanna." Kagome jumped as the little girl appeared out of nowhere, and stood beside Naraku. He told her, "Tell your brother and sister to go out and fetch Hojou. Bring him back here, and I will show him what happens when a mortal tries to trick this Naraku…"

Kanna nodded and left as quickly as she came. Naraku's stare flashed over to Kagome, and he gave her a menacing smirk, "While we're waiting, why don't I just give you two a little alone time… I'm sure you just have many, many questions for your poochie pal."

Before Kagome could even respond to him, Naraku left the room.

Only silence followed. It was just her and Inuyasha now…

She hunched over, actually shaking with the suffering and pain she was feeling. How… how could he…? After all that she did for him… after all they went through together… after all that she _admitted to him_. This felt like the best opportunity to cry but she couldn't conjure up any tears… This was the most distraught she had ever felt in her life, but now that it was just her and Inuyasha, all she could do was tremble.

"Kagome…" his voice hummed behind her.

She couldn't find the voice to respond, her tremors becoming more and more violent.

"Let me untie you…" he said ruefully, tugging on the ropes that bound her.

As soon as the tautness surrounding her body loosened, she snapped like a twig.

All her fury, all her pain, all her misery, was caught and put into a furious yell and an animal-like leap onto Inuyasha. He gave no resistance and he tumbled to the floor with her on top of him. She placed all her energy into punching his chest, screaming, "HOW COULD YOU?!" The tears fell now. They collected in her eyes in great big globs and rolled down her rosy cheeks. All of her vision was blurred, but she still kept pounding him.

"WHY?!" she demanded, "WHAT DID I DO TO YOU TO DESERVE THIS-?! What did I do…?" her sentences were cut off by horrific sobs, and dwindling as her initial fury left her. Even her punches got weaker and feebler, and eventually she stopped beating his chest all together.

Tired and hysterical, she collapsed her head upon his chest and cried. All strength had left her now. She stayed there, on top of him for what felt like an eternity; the same cheek lying on the same chest from just that morning. Inuyasha didn't move and he didn't speak.

After a while, her sobs lessened, and questions flooded into her mind. When she felt she could handle talking, she asked the question that most stood out in her head, "How long?"

Inuyasha didn't reply or move. Kagome didn't feel ready to actually look at his face, so she asked again, clarifying, "How long were you with them, Inuyasha? You weren't one of the six demons… you must have met them afterwards… When was it? During the time you left me? When they broke into my house for the second time? Since before you _even knew me_…?" Kagome began to tear up again, "_WHEN_?"

Inuyasha sighed, "I met them properly after the break in. I chased them off and tried to follow them after they injected me with blood thinner and whacked me…" Kagome stiffened at the mention of the blood thinners, "That's when I met Naraku…" he paused, "He said he knew who I was, and told me he was like me, and demons like us ought to stick together… He proposed his plan to me: getting the jewel that was in your house, how they broke in four times already, how they would give me a permanent home and family to live in and be with if I joined them in search of the jewel."

Kagome couldn't help but flinch when she remembered Inuyasha's words at the diner. He had been all alone his entire life, and the people he did stay with typically dumped him after they couldn't keep his secret anymore.

"I refused at first," Inuyasha went on, "I thought it wouldn't be worth my time, and I didn't think you were going to let me stay in the house long enough for me to go snooping through it anyway. But you did… You welcomed me into your home so immediately and warmly I thought you might be with me forever, if not at least longer than anyone else… But when I saw you lying to your friends, and how much it hurt and strained you, I left before you could get tired of me… … Naraku came to me then…"

Kagome stared at the wall, her head still on his chest. Inuyasha's voice changed from a sorry tone to a grim one. "He told me a lot of stuff… stuff I really shouldn't have believed… but I did…"

"What stuff?" Kagome asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

"… That you were just another owner that would have dumped me… you thought of me as a pet and nothing else… the only reason you let me stay was to upset the moron…"

Kagome clenched her fists tightly, hurt that Inuyasha would believe such a thing, and enraged at Naraku for inculcating such an idea into him.

"After two weeks of him telling me this, I finally agreed to do what he wanted; so he devised a set up, so that you would find Kagura, Juromaru, and Kanna at your house, and I would come save the day and be invited back in… it worked, and…"

Inuyasha trailed off into silence, so Kagome finished his sentence for him, "And you've been searching the house ever since…" she hid her face deeper into his chest. Several instances where Kagome should have known better came to mind: Inuyasha's fervent opinions on the relevancy of the Fairytale book, he even almost got her to dismiss the book all together when he said the story wasn't in the Table of Contents, Inuyasha claiming that Naraku and his gang didn't smell like demons, although they most definitely were…

"That's not right, Kagome!" he barked, catching Kagome's attention, "I didn't try to look for the jewel, not once!"

Kagome twitched, surprised by his forcefulness. She finally lifted her head and looked into the dog man's eyes for the first time since she had flung herself away from him. His eyes were focused, and for the first time today, he didn't look guilty or regretful.

He looked straight at her and said, "Look, I'm going to say this quickly while they're all out of earshot: yes, I agreed to help Naraku, and when I first rescued you I had the full intention of betraying you later… but right after the fight, you embraced me and cried over me…"

Kagome remembered… she was so relieved when he came back…

"…I knew then that Naraku was just using me and that I couldn't do that to you. I felt so guilty… I'm sorry Kagome…" now his gaze became adverted.

Kagome shook her head, "But then why-?" she took her hands and cupped his face and forced him to look at her, "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"They were always around…" he said. Kagome was shocked. She was being watched this entire time and she didn't even notice…? "… There was never a way I could tell you about them without them pulling something like this later… I guess I should have known it was inevitable, but I just kept _thinking_ and _hoping_ of a better way to deal with them without you around… I'm so sorry…"

Kagome's jaw tightened. She'd like to believe that, but… She released Inuyasha's face and asked weakly, "But you lied to me Inuyasha. And I couldn't tell at all… How can I know if you're being truthful now…?"

Inuyasha's mien shattered in front of her. He threw his head away from her, and Kagome immediately lamented saying it in such a cruel way. Feeling desperate, she grabbed his face again and brought hers very close to it. She demanded, "Do you swear that you're being truthful to me, Inuyasha? I'll believe you one more time is you say yes."

"Yes!" he cried direly.

She crushed her lips upon his upon confirmation. His mouth was stiff at first, most likely from the shock, but soon he began to kiss her back. Kagome combed her fingers back into Inuyasha's hair, and soon wrapped her arms around his neck as the kiss became deeper.

In a sudden burst, Inuyasha flipped her over to the floor and began kissing her even more urgently than before. Although unexpected, it didn't distract her in the least bit and she continued on until Inuyasha abruptly stopped kissing her and glared at the door.

"What's wrong," she murmured, still dazed from the intense kiss.

Inuyasha's ear twitched and he pulled her up and off the ground explaining, "They're back. Get back in the chair and look sad."

"But-" Kagome protested, but Inuyasha interrupted her, "Shh. It'll be alright. I won't let them hurt you again."

Kagome stared at him for a moment and decided to trust him. She nodded and sat back in the chair. By the time the kitchen door opened up, Kagome already had an artificial tear running down her face.

She glanced up, trying to look hopeless, but her eyes widened in astonishment when she saw a shaky Hojou being carried in at the collar by Naraku.

He greeted Kagome with a smile, "Now that the whole gang's here, why don't we have a little chat?"

-,-

Woot, so, so close to the ending… I'm thinking of double posting the last chapter and the epilogue. Really, they ought to be in the same chapter, but the epilogue really sums everything up, and the last chapter would just be too freakishly long if I put them together…. Not to mention, I _really_ want to just write one up since I never got the chance to ever type one up before -,-… Anyway, I'm going to reply to your reviews now!

OhBrother: Sorry, I didn't remember it ending that way… I'm really happy to hear from you again! I didn't receive as much reviews as usual and I sort of think it was because I didn't reply like usual… or they hate me forever for ending the chapter that way… Oh well, thanks for reviewing!

Shadow Thief Wolf: Yeah, the ending of that chapter was kind of unexpected for me, too… I originally wrote an alternate ending to that chapter (however ultimately leading to that situation) but changed it to that about a month ago and _forgot_ that I changed it… Yeah, I think it's sad too… Thanks for reviewing!

InOcEnT-schoolgirl: Hey! You were my 200th review! :Breaks out party hats and noise makers: Woot!! Heheh… so maybe the worst circumstances led to the _even_ worse… but hey, they made up and made out, so I get any props for that…? No I suppose not… ;.; Thank you for your review!!

Greenee16: Thanks for the compliment. To be honest, I was a little afraid that that chapter wasn't going to be well liked at all… I was just trying to end a whole lot of side stories at once to make way for the end of the story, and I was afraid that was sort of a little too obvious. I'm really happy you enjoyed it regardless though! Thank you for reviewing and I hope to hear from you one last time!

Neomeneomine: First off: It seriously took me ten minutes to comprehend your name- but I like it! Second off: Thank you! I admit I've never read another Inudog fic, but I'm glad mine is one of the better ones! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to hear from you again!

Beautiful.Black.Joy: Well, at least you can rest assured that Inuyasha wouldn't get taken down by Naraku and company, right? Erm… Well… Yes, the Jewel comes into play, I had no idea why else Naraku would be continuously robbing Kagome's house… I thought the reason "Because he's drunk and/or bored" wouldn't satisfy readers… Anywho, it's great to hear from you again! I can't wait for your next review.

FutureKagome: I thought I updated pretty quick, huh? Thanks for the review.

VampireInuFreak: :Looks around guilty: Well… I have to edit them… I usually reread my chapter over three times before posting it so it isn't riddled with stupid mistakes (and trust me: it would be) But also: suspense. BWUHAHAHAHAHA!! Whoops, I guess I'm not that kind of an author, am I? Well, I did update soon…

Phlawere: Wow, I hope your laptop is okay! I'm happy you enjoyed the chapter though and I hope to hear from you again!


	14. The Truth

Even though Inuyasha told her to look sad and hopeless, Kagome couldn't restrain the fury that engulfed her at Hojou's addition to the room

O.o Wow, a lot of people seemed to think that Hojou entering the room was a bigger cliffie than Inuyasha ending up with a gun pointed at his head… Hrm….

Well, I decided I would keep the last chapter and the Epilogue separate. I just need to finish writing and editing it. I also ended up cutting off the real ending to this chapter and gluing it on to the beginning of the epilogue. Don't worry though, unless something particularly bad happens, I will definitely have the epilogue up by Sunday, if not sooner.

Now I hope you enjoy the final chapter of _The Doghouse_!

Chapter 14

The Truth

By Auroras-flame

Even though Inuyasha told her to look sad and hopeless, Kagome couldn't restrain the fury that engulfed her at Hojou's addition to the kitchen. The room turned red, and Kagome stood up so ferociously that the chair she was supposed to be stuck to flew a metre away before crashing to the floor.

"HOJOU!!" she screeched, dashing towards him to sock him one. His face was frozen with fear at the charging Kagome, but unfortunately, she was intercepted by Inuyasha before she could reach her treacherous ex-boyfriend.

Inuyasha held on tightly to her, but she still thrashed about, flailing her legs forward, praying her foot would make contact with Hojou's cheating face.

"YOU!" she spat, still floundering in Inuyasha's grip, "How could you do this to me?! You might as well have plunged a butcher knife into my back you pathetic BASTARD!!" Kagome had never felt so much hate for someone in her life as she did for Hojou right now.

Hojou shook his head and pleaded, "No, Kagome, it isn't what it sounds like! You don't know the whole story!"

Kagome paused only temporarily to listen. She challenged, "Okay, go ahead. What's the story?!"

"Nara-" Naraku's pale hand covered Hojou's mouth before he could utter another word.

"Nah- ah- aah, little Hojou. Kagome already had a story told to her. I think there are some matters that are a little more important right now… like, let's say, your fibbing!"

Hojou cried out in pain as Naraku's fist suddenly appeared deeply imbedded into his abdomen. Kagome screamed from the horrific sight, and she even felt Inuyasha wince.

Naraku released his collar, and Hojou crumpled on the floor in pain, his body erupting in spasms. Even through all her hate for Hojou, his twitching being on the floor was enough to arouse pity from even Kagome. She covered her mouth and looked away. Inuyasha's arm wrapped around her, obviously trying to comfort and shield her from the sight.

"Ka… Kagome…" Hojou wheezed. Kagome turned back to him. He was looking up at her in a determined way, "I… I wanted to marry you… I love you."

Kagome could feel Inuyasha's hand flex around her shoulder. He didn't have anything to worry about. The words that would have brought her so much joy over a month ago, barely even ignited a response in her now. She stared down pityingly and the wounded creature and shook her head, "I'm sorry, Hojou."

Naraku let out a small cackle of amusement, "Looks like you were rejected, Hojou, chap. Now," Naraku's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Unless you want to start losing limbs, I suggest you tell us where you hid the jewel."

"Tell her…" Hojou wheezed, "…what really happened! Or let me. I'll only tell you after Kagome knows!" Hojou declared, strength clearly coming back to him.

Shades of rage danced across Naraku's face, "Do you honestly think I'm in the mood to bargain with _you_ of all people, Hojou?!"

Fear crossed Hojou's face, but left as he demanded once more, "The second Kagome has heard the rest of the story; I'll get the jewel for you."

Naraku screeched with fury at Hojou's defiance and lifted him up. He brought back his fist for another tremor inducing punch. Hojou's face switched back and forth between dread and insubordination.

Naraku's punch never came through, though. Kagome analyzed his face and although his expression itself didn't change at all, she could see some plot forming in his eyes.

"Inuyasha: chair." Before Kagome knew it, Inuyasha had released her shoulder and had a chair for Hojou to sit in. Naraku placed Hojou down in the chair and smirked, "Alright, I'll let you tell her. And another gift: I'll let you tell her alone, just because I'm that nice."

Kagome glanced over to Inuyasha who stared back at her in a way that told her he would have to do as Naraku said. Kagome gulped and turned her eyes back to Hojou.

"Inuyasha, let's go," Naraku said, exiting the room. Kagome watched through her periphery vision as Inuyasha's silver hair disappeared through the doorway.

All her attention focused on Hojou now. She pulled up the seat she was previously bound to and folded her arms as she sat, "Well, what is it you want to say to me Hojou."

Hojou winced; a truly pathetic spectacle considering his condition, "Don't be so cold, Kagome… It isn't how you thought… I'm sorry, but I've been lying to you this entire time."

Kagome raised an eyebrow, "Yeah. Kind of figured that out already."

"I've always loved you! I never slept with Eri!" he told her passionately.

Although she felt nothing about his confession of love, the lack of cheating sparked her interest, "You didn't sleep with Eri?"

"No!" he repeated. He took a gasp of air and began on a long story, "I went to Okinawa to ask my grandmother for the family ring. I wanted to propose to you, I really wanted you to be my wife, Kagome! Anyway, just by chance, I crashed into Eri at the airport. We were talking and when my grandmother came to pick me up, she just assumed Eri was you, Kagome. We didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise, so she ended up staying at my grandmother's house for her holiday."

Kagome listened, but so far wasn't interested. This was the exact same story that Hojou had told her before, only his first story ended with 'and then I slept with her'.

"But I never slept with her!" Ah! A change… "I got the ring from my grandmother and told her that Eri… er, you… weren't allowed to know about it until I got back to Tokyo. It wasn't until the day that we were leaving for home that Naraku came to us…"

Kagome's ears were now wide open.

"…He approached us at the airport with the rest of his gang and demanded the ring. He assumed Eri was you and almost went through her things. But I had decided to mail the ring with the rest of the souvenirs I got, as to avoid Customs, so I didn't have it on me, the Postal Service did…"

Kagome's eyes narrowed, she remembered receiving the box with Hojou's souvenirs on the exact day he got home. Was the ring hidden among the gifts?

"…Naraku was upset and told me that I had best give him the ring just as soon as the package came in the mail… But I couldn't let him have it! My lineage wouldn't allow it!" he paused for what seemed a long while. Kagome was surprised by his wilfulness and ardour about keeping the jewel hidden… if only he felt the same way about their relationship…

"Eri was brought in on it too…" Hojou's fervour was lost to guilt, "I told her the legend and we were forced to think up something… _someway_ to be able to hide the jewel from him for as long as possible…"

Kagome bristled with anger, "So you ran away together and left me alone to fend for myself?!"

"NO, Kagome! We left in an attempt to protect you!" Hojou exclaimed.

"And you left the ring here in an attempt to protect yourselves," Kagome spat.

Hojou stared at her for a hopeless moment and hung his head in defeat, "We thought since Naraku and his group thought that Eri was you, they would keep a firmer eye on us than on you… Also, I didn't think you would be so… _forceful_ about keeping the house…"

Kagome flushed, knowing full well that Hojou's plan probably _would_ have worked if she just moved away. Regardless, she growled, "You should have just told me the _truth_."

"I _was_ going to!" Hojou cut in suddenly, "Right after you broke up with me. Oh, Kagome I was so heartbroken, I called up Eri and we came over just to tell you everything! But when we came and the house was ruined…" he trailed off and Kagome finished his story for him, "You chickened out."

Hojou groaned and placed his face in his hands.

Kagome rolled her eyes and stood up, "Hojou, where did you put the ring?"

His head snapped up with a crack, "What?"

"Just tell me where you hid the ring, Hojou. The sooner they get it, the sooner this hell will be over," Kagome stated.

"No! No, Kagome! If they get a hold of the ring the hell will just have begun!" Hojou stood up this time, only using up a moment to grasp his wounded abdomen, "The Jewel of Four Souls is easily the most powerful mystical item ever made and you want to give it to the root of all evil?!"

Kagome actually took a step back from the shock of Hojou yelling. She'd never seen him so upset. It was actually a little scary.

"Flames will scorch the Earth, demons will cover the sky and blot out the sun, men, women and children will die each day enslaved by the entire demon race!" Hojou continued to shout. Kagome fell backwards as he continued to take menacing steps towards her.

"Oh, really, it won't be _that_ dramatic," Naraku commented with icy humour, suddenly appearing at the doorway.

Hojou swivelled fiercely and Naraku went on, "Now: I suggest you take your girlfriend' advice and just tell me where the stupid ring is. I fulfilled my part of the deal, and now it's your turn."

Demon by demon began appearing around the room as soon as Naraku spoke his words. First Juromaru teleported in, followed by Kagura, then Kanna. A warm force appeared behind Kagome. Inuyasha stood beside her, ready to act as guard dog whenever necessary.

Kagome glanced up at him briefly before turning her gaze back to the floor. She clenched her fists together and hissed. All these lies, all these tricks, all these things happening around her all at once as Kagome sits there, stupid and oblivious.

She remembered how shocked she was to hear that Hojou had cheated on her. All of that seemed so trivial and idiotic now.

"Tell us now, Hojou. Or meet with a fate worse than death…" Naraku hissed menacingly.

"Never!!" Hojou shouted back, despite the horror plastered on his face.

Kagome, meanwhile, was still struggling with swallowing all this news. Hojou… how could he still be such an idiot? This was hardly any different than the remote in the cereal bo…

"Have it your way! Kagura, remove a few digits, from our strong willed friend!" Naraku issued.

Kagome's brain clicked on.

Kagura teleported over to Hojou, insane look on her face and placed him in a choke hold. Her hands had just touched his fingers when Kagome shouted, "STOP! I think I know where it is!"

Every face in the room switched over to her, but her eyes remained focused on Hojou, searching his expression to see if there was any small look of fear in his eyes that would act as a confirmation.

There most definitely was. Hojou, still bent over by Kagura's hold stuttered, "Ka- Kagome… Don't! Please, don't!"

Kagome's mien remained emotionless as she rose from her spot on the floor. Hojou was still shouting at her to stop, but a quick thud silenced him. Kagome looked and saw him collapsed on the floor.

Naraku appeared beside her and waved his hand as he put an arm around her shoulder, "Don't mind the idiot, go on; tell me where the ring is, dear…"

She removed herself from his arm and walked straight over to the cabinet. She opened it up and retrieved the Okinawa blend coffee that Hojou had brought back for her. She took the glass jar and threw it on the ground. It shattered into thousands of shards and the distinct aroma of coffee floated through the air. In the debris, a sparkle of gold and pink caught her eye.

She picked it up and held it out to Naraku. The ring _was_ pretty, she'd admit that. It was a simple gold band with tiny pink jewels embedded throughout. However, there was a slightly bigger bit of jewel at the top of the ring along with petal shaped cuts stemming from it in the shape of a flower.

Naraku practically giggled at the sight. He reached for the jewel, mentioning, "I could learn to like you, girl. You: you get to live."

"Thanks a million," Kagome growled, gesturing the ring toward him more. Naraku reached forward to grab it, but as soon as the ring touched his skin, a light erupted from the ring and sent Naraku smoking and flying across the room.

A scream echoed throughout the house, and Kagome almost dropped the ring when in a great din, the smoke alarm began to go off.

"Damn it!" Kagome could hear Kagura curse over the alarm.

"Police will be coming…" Kanna mentioned in her monotone voice, as Juromaru looked up at the ceiling, possibly searching for the little machine.

"What did you do to that jewel?!" Naraku demanded, still clutching his burning hand.

"I- I- I didn't do anything to it!" Kagome shouted back in shock.

Naraku sat himself in a launching position and shot himself toward Kagome. She flinched into a defensive stance, but felt no blow. Inuyasha had stepped in front of her and deflected the attack by sending Naraku into a wall. Soon, all three of the incarnations had descended on him, and all Kagome could do was watch in terror while the scream of the alarm set the tone for the rage that was happening in front of her.

Only a few seconds into the squabble, Inuyasha managed to hit Juromaru's head on the counter, and he collapsed onto the floor, a blood halo encircling his head. Kagome wasn't sure if he was dead or not, but now Inuyasha was only dealing with the two female incarnations now.

Kagura was quick to inflict cut wounds upon Inuyasha, but by what means Kagome wasn't sure. It looked very much like she was using the wind. Kanna was causing problems too. She wasn't so much attacking Inuyasha as she was distracting him as Kagura dealt the blows. She would fade in and out like a ghost; so just as soon as Inuyasha would try to strike her, she'd become intangible and impossible for Inuyasha to graze.

Kagome couldn't stand being so helpless and looked around her kitchen. Her knives were on the other side of the room, and considering there was a small war happening right in front of her, the possibility of getting across was just about nil to none. There were a set of drawers just beside her though. She opened one of them and gave a small laugh of relief as she pulled out an ice hammer. She flipped around and quietly trotted over to the occupied Kagura.

Kagura had just hit Inuyasha with another wind cut, and didn't even notice Kagome approaching her from behind. Kagome raised the jagged mallet, and licked her lips in anticipation of returning the kind bump that Kagura gave to her but a few hours ago.

She hit down hard, and Kagura fell down, head bleeding slightly. She heard Kanna give an uncharacteristic gasp as she faded away for a final time and didn't reappear.

The cut and nicked Inuyasha ran over to her and embraced her tightly. She dropped the ice hammer and returned his hug. When they loosened their grips Kagome gently touched his clawed arm, "You're alright, aren't you?"

He nodded his head briefly, but then looked around the room, "Naraku and Kanna, where are they?"

Kagome looked over to where Naraku was thrown to notice he wasn't there any more. "Have they gone?" Kagome asked him, bringing herself closer to him.

"No," his ear twitched, "I can still smell him nearby. I think-" Inuyasha didn't get to finish his sentence as he was thrown away from Kagome by a mighty force. Kagome screamed and ran towards him, glancing back only long enough to see Kanna fade away.

Inuyasha hopped to his feet, and suddenly picked up Kagome and hopped out of a window. The glass shattered around them but Inuyasha didn't mind as he hopped into the space between her and her neighbour's house. Swiftly, he brought her to her backyard.

Inuyasha stopped right there and Kagome looked at him desperately, wondering why he would have brought her out here of all places.

"Why did you stop here?" she asked looking up at him.

"I have a plan…" his ears turned, "He's here."

"Oh, that's right," Naraku appeared next to the gate separating her and her neighbour's backyard, "Although Kanna can trick that nose of yours, I can't…" Naraku faced Kagome, "And that thing about letting you live… I take it back. I don't take kindly to having _my hand burned_."

Kagome scoffed, and very nearly stated that she didn't do it on purpose, but what would be the point?

"I don't know _what_ you did to the ring, but for some reason it doesn't seem to react well with demons… so I'm going to have to assume that it's been purified from the last time I set eyes on it…. Regardless," he took off his jacket and placed it over his hand, "Fork it over, before I take it from your corpse."

Kagome fingered the ring in her hand and looked up at Inuyasha. He gave her the tiniest of a shake of the head and told her, "Just do as I say."

Kagome wasn't sure to make of what he would want her to do, but nodded anyway. As soon as she did, he lunged for Naraku like a wild dog, shredding him to pieces. Naraku hissed and began to let off some sort of purple smoke. Inuyasha gagged, but resumed tearing him up. Kagome gasped in fright as she saw the purple smoke creep towards her, killing her lawn on its way. She avoided the miasma and glanced up again at the two raging demons.

Her mouth dropped a little when she saw that Inuyasha was barely harming Naraku, just basically shredding his clothes. Already Naraku was shirtless. Kagome shouted, "Inuyasha, why aren't you _hurting_ him?!" He _had_ to be able to…

Inuyasha didn't reply and suddenly picked Naraku up. The miasma was still leaking out of his body, and Kagome could see parts of Inuyasha's skin slightly peeling off.

Inuyasha threw the other demon over the fence and a large mechanical sound went off along with Naraku's cries of anguish. Inuyasha panted and yelled over to Kagome, "Throw the ring on him!"

All suddenly registered with Kagome. She had almost entirely forgotten: her neighbour's bear traps! Naraku should be caught in one over there. She ran to the fence and Inuyasha hoisted her up slightly so she could actually see where she was throwing. She spotted Naraku in a tiger hole, caught in a bear trap, and scowling up at her in pain and hate.

"You want the ring, Naraku?" she asked angrily, "You can have it!!" she threw down the ring into the hole and it landed splat on his chest. Naraku screamed in anguish as the ring began to scorch his skin. The burn grew deeper and wider until soon all that was left of Naraku was a pile of black ashes.

Inuyasha brought her down. Kagome stared up at him with doting love. His face was bloody, but Kagome could already see it starting to heal itself.

"Kagome," Inuyasha brought her into his arms, "I'm so sorry. I should have told you what was really going on… even if they were listening… I'm no better than Hojou."

Kagome brought a finger to his lips, "You aren't, Inuyasha. Don't worry about it, I forgave you, remember?" She smiled at him, "I love you."

Inuyasha smiled back, "I love you, too." He bent down and kissed her. Kagome wrapped her arms around him, and they kissed deeply.

Sirens interrupted their tender moment. Kagome only looked away for a second, but when she turned back to Inuyasha, he was in his dog form; no less bloody.

"Kagome! Kagome!!" she heard the familiar voice of her friend shout from the house.

Inuyasha barked and Kagome ran back to her home, "Sango! Miroku! I'm out here and fine!!"

-,-

OMG. I finished a fanfic. This is incredible, unbelievable, stupendous. Holy shit. Well, it isn't entirely over… I have an epilogue to write, but other than that… Woot!

Now for some replies!

VampireInuFreak: Ooo! It's like magic! I update and less than thirty minutes later you review! :) I'm happy to hear I'm not predictable (I really don't like to be…)! Just wait a little over the weekend to see the epilogue!

My Heart is in Sonoma County: Thanks so much for catching that! Admittedly, I read over each text fairly :cough: closely before posting, but I always do this on Microsoft Word and not on … I don't know exactly what happened (I most certainly didn't type Kagura and Kanna all out as Kagome…) but I think it has something to do with the fact that I had my Microsoft document open while I was uploading the file… I don't know why or how, but I know computers hate it when you do that, so: I'm blaming the entire thing on that. Well, I fixed it and it should all be back to normal now (hopefully). Thanks again! I always find it strange that only one person seems to mention that… I hope to hear from you again!

InOcEnT-schoolgirl: I'm taking your advice and writing the epilogue separately. It isn't done yet, but it will be soon. Yeah, I already did have the last chapter (and some of this one!) already typed out before I posted the last ones, but I try to be pretty thorough in my editing and I'm trying to release each chapter slowly as to gain more hits. (I know its selfish, but I'm really trying to get ten thousand before the story ends. As I type I have 9838! So, so close!!) I hope to hear from you again!

Musicluva: Hey! Great to hear from you again! No worries, I haven't touched my computer for anything but school in three months! Yeah, the story did kind of turn unexpectedly all of a sudden… sorry about that. It was the way the fic was supposed to go, but it even felt to sudden writing it out, so… yeah. Thanks for reviewing!

Shadow Thief Wolf: Thanks a bunch! I'm just happy that everything _is_ coming together… :Looks around guiltily: I have been known to create side stories that never get resolved or loose ends that never get tied up… so, yeah, I'm pretty happy that I seemed to get everything in this one… I think… maybe… right…? Thanks for the review!

Priestessmykala: It's good to hear from you again (I think it's amazing how you seem to be constantly on …). Yeah, Hojou's full of it. My extreme distaste for him is no big secret… Hah, well. I hope to hear from you again!

Kagome1312: Yeaaahhh… I'm going to call my hinting "subtle" (translation: nearly non-existent) Well, when I first began writing the Doghouse, I had no intention of that happening, so there were no clues to it (obviously) I just sort of came up with it about five chapters in so… hahaha… yeah…. It's great to hear from you again, and thanks for the review!

CrystalMask: Gahhh!! Don't hurt me CAP letters!! Wow, here I was thinking that Inuyasha with a gun at his head was the mean cliffie; boy was I wrong. Stick Hojou in a room and you get nothing but suspense! Yay! Someone else reads the manga!! I'm not alone! Unfortunately, I'm forced to survive off Viz because I don't know where to get _legible_ translations of Inuyasha and my Japanese is only okay… I can't wait for your next review! (I'm updating darnit).

Neomeneomine: Well… it's almost the ending! Just wait for it by the end of the weekend! It should (hopefully) be out! Thank you for reviewing again!

Beautiful.Black.Joy: Whoa! I just posted, but when I checked my stats, I found your review! I hope this gets in on time! :Looks at story again: Wow, that IS soap opera!! Sweet... Thanks a bunch, I'm flattered you think so highly of me! I'm still a little confused over which moment you hate/love me for... but I'll take any hate/love i can get! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I think you enjoyed the last one!


	15. Epilouge

It's so, so, short… and yet it took so, so long. I'm really sorry! I promised this would be out the Monday after my last post, and it would have been too if I didn't end up scrapping my entire first epilogue.

I'm really sorry, I just didn't like it… what can I say? So I ended up writing this… this impossibly short thing…. I'm so sorry.

Epilogue

Doghouse

By Auroras-flame

She buckled herself up and put her key in the ignition. As she turned the car on, cool wisps of air flew by her face and she let out a contented sigh. She checked her mirrors and began home from work.

It had been a week since Inuyasha and she destroyed Naraku, and it was possibly the nicest week of Kagome's life… Well… _almost_ the nicest week of her life…

She received quite a scare on the day of the fight when Sango and Miroku revealed to her that Hojou's (unconscious, but alive) body was the only one on Kagome's kitchen floor when they arrived. Somehow, either Kagura and Juromaru woke up or Kanna managed to teleport them away just before the police came. That meant that they were still out there; and possibly wanting revenge for the loss of their leader.

Inuyasha reassured her that the incarnation's attachment to Naraku was most likely just because he had power over them (being the one who made them). He even told her he had seen the Kagura lash out towards Naraku once when he first encountered them all. Still, Kagome couldn't help being slightly worried. Inuyasha also mentioned that Kagura, Kanna, and Juromaru might have actually disappeared along with Naraku. It was clear that they were closely connected, and perhaps, when they're maker dies, they do too. He admitted immediately after, however, that it was just a theory and he had no real idea.

Nonetheless, she and Inuyasha hadn't seen a single trace of them all week. If they _did_ want revenge, they were taking their time. It also might have been because the ring (found in a tiger hole, near a bloody bear trap and a pile of ashes, where Kagome told the police Naraku died) had been claimed by the police for evidence; and, to Kagome's knowledge, was still being kept there. As for the police not finding Naraku's body, Kagome coyly suggested that Kanna might have reclaimed it as well as the unconscious bodies that _were_ in the kitchen. Of course, Miroku and Sango were dubious, but could any better theory possibly be formulated?

Hojou miraculously managed to stay alive with most of his organs and body parts (his brain was still on the lam, though…). She had visited him the hospital. Yeah, he was a sod and a little rotten bastard, but she still felt really sorry for the guy. He was only trying to do what was best, he just happened to go about it the wrong way.

This was where the week really hit a nadir.

When she arrived at the hospital, Hojou was conscience, amazingly. However he seemed to take her presence there as a sign that she forgave him and that they were a couple again. Normally, Kagome might have just been able to let him down easy, and then leave, but Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi were there also. All three of them begged her to forgive him and take him back, even Eri, who had been afraid to talk to Kagome ever since she arrived back from Okinawa.

Kagome tried to remain collected about the whole thing, she really did, but after so much prodding and poking by her friends, she blew up and stormed out of the hospital claiming that she never wanted to see them again, leaving an enraged Yuka, a crying Ayumi, and a frustrated Eri.

Kagome let out a sigh in her car, just remembering the whole fight. Now her only friends were Sango and Miroku…

On the good side, she had barely seen a trace of the otherwise overly persistent Kouga all week. He paid her a little attention the day after Naraku's demise, but the conversation was surprisingly professional and he only expressed the normal amount of relief that she was alright after such an attack. Admittedly, Kouga's lack of interest disturbed her a _tiny_ bit, just because it was so unlike him. She suspected that he was still looking into Inuyasha, but she wasn't too worried about that. He isn't human so he doesn't have a birth certificate or file that Kouga could look up; meaning it would take more than the normal amount of effort to find dirt of any kind on her dog/boyfriend.

Also on the up was Miroku and Sango's relationship. They had already gone on a date, and Sango had told her over the phone that it was wonderful and Miroku hadn't groped her at all. Not once. She almost sounded proud. Kagome couldn't be happier for her. Although Sango complained, it was always clear to Kagome that she fancied Miroku as more than just a partner.

Then there was the true source of all her happiness…

Kagome pulled into the driveway and parked the car. By the time her door was open a beautiful Kishu Inuyasha was staring up at her happily, his tongue lagging out and his tail wagging.

Kagome laughed and kissed his snout, "I'm home."

Inuyasha turned around and rushed inside the house. Kagome got her things out of the car and quickly followed, mischievous grin on her face.

The moment her foot was in the door, Inuyasha planted his lips on hers, greeting her, "Welcome home."

Kagome snickered, "Welcome home indeed."

It was official: she and Inuyasha were now boyfriend/girlfriend, if that was even the right term. Kagome had never experienced a love and life quite like the one she had now with Inuyasha. She never knew that merely seeing someone's face could make smile, and knowing he felt the same made her heart take wing.

In her merry stupor, she suddenly noted Inuyasha's steady focused gaze. He looked unnerved. Kagome frowned, "What's wrong?"

"You received something in the mail today," he said, his ear twitching over to the coffee table.

Kagome broke away from Inuyasha and walked over to it, spotting an unnamed box. Kagome's eyes widened a little in fright. Could it be from Naraku's incarnations? Were they still alive and wanting revenge?

Kagome's head turned anxiously to Inuyasha and asked. He shook his head, "No, it smells like… _your boss_…"

Kagome gave him a weird look, "_Kouga_?"

Kagome picked up the little thing and tried to open it with her fingers. When she struggled, Inuyasha lent a claw to help open the box.

The pair peeked inside. Kagome reached within and pulled out a small jewellery holder. It was covered in that blue velvet, and very nearly looked like an engagement ring box.

Kagome blanched at the sight, thoroughly sick of engagement rings, and Inuyasha growled.

She flipped open the box and a small slip of paper floated out. Inuyasha bent down to pick up the paper, and Kagome examined the contents that remain in the box. It was a silver bracelet, with a small moon pendant. Kagome recognized it immediately as the bracelet Kouga tried to give her on his second day of work.

"Kagome," Inuyasha said gravely, "We have a problem."

Kagome turned to Inuyasha, who flashed her the piece of paper. Written, in a familiar scratchy handwriting that she had seen too many times at work was _**Inuyasha Takahashi?**_

"Crap," Kagome said.

The phone rang. Inuyasha and Kagome looked up the stairs where it was until the answering machine picked up. There was a beep and it said, "Kagome? It's Hojou. Please Kagome, we need to talk. I'm getting out of the hospital soon, but I would really like it if you would come to me instead of the other way around. I'm just not comfortable with you dating a dog demon!-"

Inuyasha growled as Hojou went on on the answering machine.

The doorbell rang. Kagome walked tentatively over and as soon as she touched the handle, Sango came bursting in a flurry, "Kagome, I need advice! I'm going to meet Miroku's parents tonight and I need to know what to say, what to do, how to act… you're the only girl friend that I have that would have a clue and I've never met the parents of a guy I've dated before, help me!"

Kagome reared away from her pleading friend, and flashed a look over at Inuyasha, who had speedily reverted to his god form. He gave her an innocent look before scooping his clothes in his mouth and tromping away up to her room.

Kagome sighed inwardly. She remembered the days so well, the days her home wasn't a zoo, or rather a doghouse.

-,-

Well, that's it! That's the end… or is it? I'm playing around with the idea of making a sequel, but I wouldn't hold your breath my little readers, because even though I have my mind forming around a story, I'm going to actually need the drive to type the whole thing out. Well, here's hoping! If I did make a sequel, I would have it continue straight off of this fanfic, so it would appear as if I was adding a new chapter to this story, but I really wouldn't be. (I just don't think that making a whole new fanfic for a sequel is the best thing, I know that I just skip right over those when I'm scanning for fanfiction.)

I'm also working on a new fanfic, but I think it's going to need a whole lot of work before I have the guts to post it, so in other words, I don't know when I'll see you all next time. I hope you all find wonderful fanfiction to read and have a delightful summer!

Minna-sama: O yonde kurete arigatou gozaimashita!! Hounto ni! Shitsureshimasu!

_**Auroras-flame**_


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